Pokémon online
by Ace 5niper 117
Summary: Welcome to Pokémon online, the new MMORPG. Two years after the events of Sao, and someone was successful in making another death game with the world seed. Now it's up to a band of SAO survivors who turn from unlikely allies to close friends as they try to clear the game.
1. OC invitation

This is an invitation for a story in writing called Pokémon online, a crossover of Sword art online and pokemon. There is no limit at the moment, but that may change soon.

so far, my best idea would be having some final evolved or Legendary pokemon as bosses. evolution is allowed (depending on what Pokémon you choose your Oc's avatar to be.)

okay, I guess the armor thing wont work. There will be items like a scarf or something, but that's it.

Note: the Oc's are yours, so you can do whatever you please. Just be sure to tell me what you want me to do, and I'll try to make the story as awesome as possible. Just send your OC by PM or review.

And please, no bad language.

What I will need for OC creation:

name

age

Pokemon avatar (all seven hundred...something Pokémon...except Magikarp.)(doubles are allowed.)

Starter moves (when the OC is met)

background

personality

for example, here's my own.

1.

Name: Micheal

age: 17

pokemon avatar: Riolu

Starter moves: Quick attack, Endure

background: Before the SAO incident, Micheal was a nobody. He was always picked on for his beliefs, and never felt that he belonged in the real world. After Sword art online was released, and was revealed to be a death game, Micheal strived to do whatever he could to help beat the game. He's run into Kirito a couple times in the front lines, and was the only survivor of his guild...that he led. Since then, he's never wanted to be a leader.

Personality: Micheal is laid back, and tends to have a sense of humor. But after the death of the party members of his guild, he avoids people at times.

2.

name: Firestar

age: 15

pokémon avatar: Eevee

Firestar is a player from Great Britain that happened to come across Pokémon after a bad day like Michael. When all heck broke loose when PO was revealed to be another death game, she was the first one to be kidnapped by Laughing coffin. Three months later, after Michael's guild saved her, she decided to help him out with clearing the game. After a while, she looked up to Michael as an older brother.

Personality: Firestar is mostly a happy go lucky kind of person, but she's also pretty shy.

**okay, never mind about Sarah. She's one of the main characters in the story. I thought she'd be a main part of the story. You're free to make two if you want.**

**also, there maybe a time where I'll have you make up an attack of your own for your character only. It'll take some time to think about, but just know that I might throw it out there for ya. I'll update this as soon as I come up with something.**

**Ok, I've done it. Here's the things you'll need in order to make your own Attack. **

**Name:**

**type: (as in like Normal, ghost, etc.)**

**kind: (special, status, etc.)**

**description: (what it does when it's used.)**

**oh, and be sure to tell me when you want your OC to make it. I mean by before or after evolution. And, let me know if you want your character to share it With another.**

**Heres an example**

name: Aura's blade

type: Fighting

kind: Physical

description: a blue sword forms in the users hand, striking the foe. Also raises speed. Can be dual wielded

Made after evolution

shared between Sarah and Michael (if anyone else wants this move, let me know.(that is if your OC can use it.)

**alright, here's a new addition to the invitation. You'll have to tell me what pokemon npc you want your character to have. Here's what it needs:**

**Pokémon name:**

**nickname:**

**moves:**

**there you go. Go crazy with your ideas. **


	2. Chapter 1

**hey, what's up everybody, it's Ace with a new story for ya. This is an OC invitation story of Pokémon online, a crossover of Sword art online and Pokémon. (But I'm sure u knew that by now.) this chapter is just to let you guys have a feel for what's happening, but I hope u enjoy it anyway. **

Chapter 1

I sat on my bed, watching the cars past by through my bedroom window.

Things haven't been the same since the events of Sword art online. Ever since I woke up in the real world, I've avoided lots of people. Even the ones I called friends.

Why did I have to go through that? I wondered, clenching my fists tightly. My guild didn't deserve this.

That one memory has always haunted me, and I was the only one in the house that knew of it. My parents knew that something bugged me, but I never tell them.

I walked over to the shelf and picked up the nerve gear helmet, staring at it.

If I hadn't been involved in that boss fight...this would never have happened. I thought.

"Michael! You're going to be late...again!" My mother called up.

I groaned as I put the helmet back on the shelf and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning." Mom said cheerfully as I sat at the counter.

I said nothing as I prepared my cereal and dug in.

She looked at me sympathetically and handed me a plate of toast as Dad walked in, ready for work.

"What's up, sport?" He asked, heading over to the door. "Ready for your day?"

"What's there to be ready for?" I muttered. "It's just a repeat of yesterday."

And with that, I grabbed my pack and left without another word.

As I walked over his school, the only thing I thought about was the last day in SAO. When Kirito defeated Heathcliff in the seventy fifth floor.

That was the only thing that put a smile on my face, cause that was the day I returned home.

But it also made me sad, cause that was the same day my guild was wiped out, and he was the only survivor.

I should've died with them. I thought when I accidentally ran into someone at the school's front door.

"Late again, I see." Kevin, the school's bully sneered. "What's wrong, you still haunted by ghosts?"

I rolled my eyes and tried to walk past him, but Kevin shoved me back.

"Hey, I just asked you a question, twerp!" He said. "So you'd better answer."

Again, I said nothing, which made Kevin more angry.

"You know what, how about I knock an answer out of ya?" He suggested and raised his fist.

"Enough!" A man yelled and grabbed Kevin's arm, stopping him. I was surprised to see that it was Mr. Richardson, the principal.

"Kevin, inside, now!" He said, pushing his arm away. "I'll deal with you later."

Kevin scoffed and stormed inside, and Mr. Richardson turned to me.

"You alright, Michael?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

The principal smiled and walked beside me as we entered the hallways. "Anytime. Besides, you're pretty much the only survivor that gets picked on in this school."

He had a point. After SAO was shut down, almost the entire school was filled with SAO players, and they're the ones doing the bullying, and I'm the only person they like to pick on.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and some of the students ran over to their classes.

"You might want to head to class." Mr. Richardson suggested. "You know how your teacher is."

Don't remind me. I thought and walked in the class.

"Hmmm...late again." Mr. Lewis grumbled as he typed something in his computer. "One more and I may have you expelled, young man."

Whatever, that's what you said yesterday. And the day before. I thought and sat down in my desk, grabbing my supplies. Doesn't he realize that I could've died?

As I put his notebook on my desk, I noticed a new girl walk in and handing a paper over to Lewis.

"Oh great...another whelp." He grumbled and pointed to the desk next to mine. "There's your seat. Take it or get expelled, your choice."

The girl walked towards the desk mouthing "swell guy." And sat down.

Don't remind me. I thought as I flipped the the pages.

"Let's get this over with." Mr. Lewis said. "As all you wimps know, this is the end of your third grading period, so here's your report cards."

He walked in front of the isles, handing out our papers.

As soon as I got mine, I immediately groaned. Another F? Seriously, it's like this guy's trying to get me to fail.

All the other grades were decent as usual. A's and B's, but the F...that's been on the last two report cards I've had.

Suddenly, I was tapped on the shoulder by the new girl. I looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Is this guy a joke?" She whispered.

I shrugged. "Don't know. He's been a pain in my side since this year started."

"I don't think I gave you permission to speak, boy!" Mr. Lewis yelled. "Which I'm surprised you have the guts to speak at all."

As soon as he said that, I immediately felt rage build in my chest as stood up. "You calling me a coward, Lewis?"

He glared at me, and everyone just stared at me in surprise.

"Woah...he's challenging Lewis? He's got guts." One kid said.

"No he doesn't." Lewis snapped walking to his desk. "He could barely hold his own in virtual reality. It's no wonder he had a group."

"That does it!" I said walking up to him. "You've gone way too far, you lazy jerk!"

He stopped and slowly turned around. "Say that to me one more time, boy. I dare ya."

I said nothing and turned to leave the room.

"See? I knew you couldn't." He sneered. "You're nothing."

In an instant, I wheeled back around. "You're the worthless one!" I yelled.

Without warning, he punched me square in the face, knocking me into the desks.

I was dazed for a while but I felt someone putting my arm on a shoulder and hoist me up.

"You're helping him?" Lewis demanded.

"Well, it's better than what you just did." The person shot back and helped me out the door. By the sound of the voice, I could tell it was female.

I was sure Lewis was going to try to expel me, and I didn't care. I've got nothing left to lose anyway. Besides, he's the one that assaulted me.

"Hey, are you okay?" The girl asked. I turned to face her and realized she was the new kid.

"He must've hit you pretty hard." She said. "I'll take you over to the nurse."

As she led me over to the nurses office, I noticed a lot of people glaring at us. Others didn't really pay much attention.

"Did you hear about the new MMO Japan released last night?" A nearby kid asked.

"What, the Pokémon one? Yeah. Who thought of that?"

"Apparently the new CEO of the Pokémon company." Someone else said.

"Great, so now there's Sword art, then Alfheim and Gun gale, and now we have a Nintendo MMO."

A Pokémon game? That hasn't happened for a while. I thought.

When we got to the nurses office, the girl explained the whole ordeal to Ms. Crichton, the schools nurse.

"Mr. Lewis did what?!" She asked as the girl helped lay me down on the bed.

"Lewis kinda got on his bad side and punched him in the face." She explained. "He may be dazed, but I'm not really sure."

"Well, one things for sure, he does have a black eye." Crichton said. "I'll get him some ice."

As the nurse left, the girl sat on the other bed. "I'm surprised that guy didn't get fired."

"Because no one had the guts to stand up to him." I grumbled.

"Well, you did. You should feel proud of yourself." She assured me.

"I did it out of rage." I told her. "There's nothing to feel proud about."

She smiled weakly as Ms. Crichton came back with a ziploc bag full of ice. "Here you go. Just rest that on your eye for a bit." She said and went back to her desk.

I winced as I slowly stuck the back on my face. It stung, but it felt good a second later.

"So...I guess you're one of them, huh?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're an SAO survivor." She said.

I looked away. "Yeah...I'm one of them." I said. "Can we just...not talk about it?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sure. No problem. I guess I shouldn't have asked. Sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine. It's just something I can't talk about."

Suddenly, the bell rang.

"Aw man...I have to go." She said and started for the door, then stopped. "The name's Sarah by the way."

"Michael." I replied.

She smiled. "Hope you get better." She said and left.

Believe me, it'll take a while. I thought. And I'm not talking about the black eye.

"Michael, would you like to stay here or head home?" Ms. Crichton asked. "You're welcome to do both."

"I don't care either way." I said. "I'll probably just head home."

"Okay, that's fine. I'll just get you a pass and you can head out." She said and started writing on a slip.

I stood up, holding the bag on my eye as I walked up to the desk.

She tore the paper off the pad and handed it to me. "Hope you have a good day." She said. "And I'm sorry for what happened."

"Don't be. It's not your fault." I said and left.

So much for a good day.

**ok then. How was that for a start? So Michael is haunted by the ghosts of his past, he's constantly picked on, but he makes a new friend (which pretty much surprised him.)**

**anyways, I hope u liked it, and if you want your own OC to have part of the action, just give me a name, age, Pokémon avatar, starting moves, backstory, and personality, and I'll try my best to make this as awesome as possible. **


	3. Chapter 2

**hey, what's up guys? It's Ace with the second chapter of Pokémon online. Hope u like it. **

Chapter 2

As I walked back home, I thought about what Sarah said.

Maybe I did stand up for my guild. I thought as I passed by Gamesplus, the new video game store between my house and the school.

I looked at the window, noticing the poster of Pokémon online. I couldn't help but laugh at the picture. It was a bunch of small Pokémon looking courageously up in the air.

I remember the old life I had, being a huge gamer and all...that was the life I enjoyed when SAO happened.

I stared at the poster for a little while and couldn't help but walk in.

"Hello, how can I help ya?" The cashier asked.

"I'm just looking around." I said and walked over to the nerve gear isle.

There were tons of new games. I'm not sure what happened over in Japan, but it was enough to come out with all these games. Besides, I haven't walked inside a video game store in two years.

When I laid eyes on Pokémon online, I took it off the shelf and walked over to the cashier.

"So, what's up with the Pokémon company?" I asked, handing him the game. "They decide to bring it back or something?"

He shrugged. "Not sure. But ever since this world seed was released, people are deciding to do all kinds of things." He said.

"World seed? What's that?"

"You've never heard of it? Some kid with the username Kirito released it. No one really knows how he got a hold of it, but he gave it out just like that."

Kirito?! He's alive? I thought. "Kirito, huh?" I wondered and picked up the game. "How much?"

"Uhh...that would be thirty nine dollars." He said.

Cheap game. I thought and took two twenties and a five out of my back pocket and handed it to him.

"Okay then. Sold." He said. "Now mind you, I hear it's still in tutorial mode right now, so you won't get to go a long distance."

I nodded. "Okay. Thanks." I said and turned to leave.

"By the way, where's you get the black eye?" He asked.

"Uh...nothing to worry about." I muttered and left with my new purchase. To be honest, I was surprised I bought it. After SAO, I vowed never to put that stupid nerve gear on again.

I guess it won't hurt to try it out. I thought and walked home to rest my head.

"Michael! I'm home-OH MY GOSH! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Mom demanded once she saw my face as I came downstairs.

"My teacher happened." I said as I sat down on the couch. "He talked trash at me and socked me in the eye."

She shook her head. "That man...first he fails you, even though you're doing great on his tests, then he punches you? He's really going to get it." She grumbled and walked over to the phone.

As she called Mr. Richardson, I decided to take a look at the game I just bought over at Gamesplus.

"Pokémon online, the new MMORPG that let's you take the form of a Pokémon." I read and shrugged. "So I guess it's going to be a Mystery dungeon kind of game."

"What's going to be what?" Mom asked suddenly, looking over my shoulder curiously.

"Uhhhh...nothing." I said and put the game back in the plastic bag.

"Michael...you...you bought a game?" She asked softly.

"Yeah...I-wait, you're not mad?"

"Upset? Why would I be? Ever since you woke up, you've never touched a single video game for two years." She said.

I looked away. "Yeah...it's been a long time, huh?"

She sat down next to me and took the game out of the bag, looking over it. "It looks fun."

I shrugged. "Yeah...I thought I would try it out real quick."

She smiled and put her arm around my shoulder. "Michael...when you woke up from that death game, you came as someone else. You used to be optimistic, loved to share jokes, and loved gaming. But you came back moody and depressed. You were no longer the Michael we knew."

I looked away. "I know. It's just...things happened."

"What did happen?" She asked. "You can tell me. I'll understand."

I sighed. "You really want to know, huh?" I muttered and explained what happened that last day to her, telling her about the Seventy fifth floor boss taking out lots of players. It took all the strength I had to tell her about my guild getting wiped out.

"They were awesome." I said. "We helped each other when things got bad in dungeons. Losing them...it did a lot on me."

Mom smiled sympathetically and gave me a hug (which was pretty much what I've needed for a long time. I just never asked).

"Well you don't have to worry anymore." She said. I'm sure that Sword art is the last death game anyone will make."

I hope so. I thought when the doorbell rang.

"Now who could that be?" She asks and went to answer it. I followed.

I was surprised to see that it was Sarah with my backpack.

"Hello there. How can I help you?" Mom asked after she answered the door.

"Oh, hi there. Is Michael here?" Sarah wondered. "He forgot his bag at school, so I thought I might drop by to give it to him."

"Oh, that's really nice of you." Mom said. "Why don't you come on in, I can give you some lemonade or something?"

"Nah, I'm good. I just came to drop this off." Sarah replied.

"How did you know where I live?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Well, on the bus ride home people were pointing at your house yelling swears and stuff. Believe me, after today, I might just walk home myself."

I smiled as she handed me the bag. "Thanks. For a second there I was afraid I would have to try and sneak through Lewis's class to get it again."

She giggled as I threw my bag into the closet. "Well, I have some good news though: I think Mr. Lewis got sacked."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Well...let's just say that word of your...accident spread like a wildfire." She said. Once it got to Mr. Richardson, he stormed straight into the creep's classroom. That was something to see."

I laughed. "Man, I wish I was there. Sure, Richardson's nice at times, but when something ticks him off...watch out."

She giggled and glanced at her watch. "Oh crud! I've gotta go. Hope your eye gets better." She said and ran down the stairs of the porch.

"Hey Sarah...thanks." I said.

She looks back and smiled. "Anytime." She said and left.

I grinned as I closed the door and walked back to the couch.

"So who was that?" Mom asked as I sat down.

"Her name's Sarah." I said. "She's a new student."

She nodded. "She seems nice."

I chuckled. "Yeah...I guess."

She smiled and passed me the game. "Why don't you go try this out? I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

I grinned. "Sure." I said and walked up the stairs to my room.

Once I walked into my bedroom, I decided to leave my door open this time. When I jumped into SAO, I left the door closed, and it took my parents forever to realize I was trapped in the game.

As I stuck the game disk into the nerve gear's reader, I gazed at the old helmet, wondering if I was making a mistake.

It's not like it's going to be another death game. I thought. Of course, you never know with Japan can come up with these days.

And with that, I closed the disk tray and plugged the helmet to the computer.

Let's do this. I thought and stuck the helmet on and laid in my bed.

I looked at the clock on my HUD. 3:15...so I'll probably play for an hour or two. I thought.

"Okay then, Link start!" I said, and my conscious mind was suddenly transported to a large room.

I looked around, realizing I was alone like before.

Out of nowhere, a heads up menu appeared in front of me, showing me my old gamer tag: Nightbright.

I smiled as I hit the accept button, and a huge list of Pokémon names.

"Holy cow! This is a huge list!" I said and flipped through, realizing that they're only pre-evolved Pokémon.

I guess you evolve over time. I thought and moved ten names over to the top ten choices list: Scyther, Zorua, Charmander, Eevee, Torchic, Chimchar, Piplup, Gible, Absol, and Riolu.

I scratched my chin and looked through the different stats each Pokémon had. Pretty much the only few that stood in my comfort zone was Riolu, Eevee, and Absol.

Then I remembered Riolu's final evolution was supposed to be pretty powerful, so I hit the name, and that was my new avatar.

Another heads up menu appeared in front of me, saying "Prepare to jump in!" when a bright light filled the room, blinding me.

When the light was gone, I found myself standing in a pavilion in a small town, filled with other Pokémon avatars.

"Looks like this is the starting point." I said and glanced at my new Riolu hand, clenching it tightly.

I smiled and stared at the clear sky. "Looks like I'm back." I said.

**helllloooo new world. Looks like Michael is back in the game. Now lets see what happens next. I'm pleased to announce that I have three new Oc's: Justin, Miles, and Laochra. Theyre avatars will be revealed next chapter, so get ready. **


	4. Chapter 3

**okay then, thanks for waiting. Here's chapter three of Pokémon online. **

Chapter 3

As I walked down from the platform, I noticed that this town is a bit smaller than the Town of beginnings was in SAO.

I guess the towns get bigger as I get further in the game. I thought and activated my heads up menu to look at my stats. Surprisingly, my stats were halved, and all the items I had were blocked.

Well, I don't see why I would need them. I'm a Pokémon now. But halving my speed? Come on. I thought and checked the attacks my avatar knows. Only two names were listed: Quick attack and Endure.

"Good start." I muttered when I suddenly got whacked in the back of the head.

"Hey! Watch it!" I snapped, wheeling around to see a Timburr glaring at me.

"You should probably watch where you step." He shot back. "This is Timburr territory."

"That's if this was ALO." Someone said behind him. "If you're going to be picky about territories, you're playing the wrong game."

I looked over the Timburr's shoulder and saw a Zorua. To be honest...he sounded familiar.

"Who do you think you are, chump?" The nameless Timburr demanded and raised his log when a Fennekin hopped on the back of his head, smacking his face against the wood.

"Gosh, I hate bullies." She grumbled and turned to the Zorua. "Are you trying to get into trouble, Kirito?"

Kirito!? I thought. Did she just say Kirito?

"Sorry. It's just that this newcomer was getting picked on." He laughed and pointed to me.

The Fennekin turned around and smiled. "You okay there?"

I nodded, but I was so shocked I couldn't say anything.

The Zorua noticed immediately. "Are you okay? You're not lagging, are you?"

I shook my head. "No, no. I'm sorry, but I have to ask...you're name's Kirito?"

He nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Then if he's Kirito...then that means the Fennekin is...Asuna.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm pretty sure I did." I said. "Do you two remember me?"

Asuna shook her head. "Not really...I mean, since we can't see your real face and all."

"Now that I think about it, your voice does sound familiar." Kirito said. "Have we met before in ALO or something?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm an SAO survivor. My gamer-tag was Nightbright. Remember?"

Kirito gasped. "M-Michael? Is that...us that really you?"

I laughed. "Long time no see, old friend. Man it's good to see you. I thought you two were dead."

Asuna shrugged. "We were close to, but as soon as Kirito defeated Heathcliff, Kayaba decided not to kill us both." She explained. "Although...it did take longer for me to return home."

Kirito grumbled. "Yeah, some creep was holding you prisoner, that's for sure."

I smiled. "It's good to see you guys. After all we've been through...it was hard watching you two almost get killed."

Asuna smiled. "We missed you too. How are the other-"

Kirito quickly bumped her, shaking his head.

"Oh...I'm...I'm sorry." She said. "I shouldn't have asked."

I shook my head. "It's fine. It's been a long time anyway."

Asuna laughed and stamped on the Timburr again as he tried to get back up.

"We were about to check out these attacks out avatars know." Kirito said. "You want to give it a shot?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's go out in the fields...like old times."

As we walked around the field, we decided to try out our attacks on the Rattata npc's. Sadly, I was used to commanding Pokémon in the DS systems, it was hard to actually do the attacking.

"Try your Endure!" Kirito suggested. "That should help."

I gritted my teeth as Rattata came at me, baring his fangs.

"You've got to dodge!" Asuna said.

"How do I do that?!" I demanded.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Imagine it?"

I thought about that, and suddenly my body felt this weird jolt of energy and I leapt to the side, dodging the Rattata.

So that's how you do it. I thought and glared at the rat. Now I just think about a certain attack.

I thought about Quick attack. And I immediately rammed into Rattata, knocking him off his feet.

"Okay, switch!" I said, and Kirito jumped in front of me and attacked with scratch.

In an instant, the Rattata crumbled into tiny pixels, and we gained very little experience points.

"Well...better than nothing, right?" Kirito asked.

Me and Asuna laughed and watched as more Rattatas appeared.

"Man it feels good to be back." I said. "I have to confess, after SAO went down...I just stopped playing."

"That happened to lots of people." Asuna said. "Most of them have lost people they cared about."

"Yeah. I hate to say it, but life's been a pain. I've got my teacher calling me a coward, I'm always picked on...it's crazy."

Kirito was about to say something when we suddenly heard someone yelling for help.

"Who was that?" Asuna asked.

I listened as whoever it was yelled again. For some strange reason...the voice sounded familiar.

"Let's go see what's going on!" I said and took off towards the noise with the other two following.

As we got further into the field, the louder the yelling got. Ice we got to the top of a small slope, I saw three Sneasels cornering another Riolu.

"She needs help." I said.

Kirito nodded. "Then let's go!"

We ran towards the three Sneasel and tackled them down.

"Go!" I told the other player. "We'll take care of these guys."

She stepped back a bit when a fourth one suddenly appeared behind her and prepared his claws.

Oh no you don't! I thought and rammed straight into him with blinding speed, knocking him down.

"Michael, behind you!" Asuna yelled.

I wheeled around as the one I tackled swatted me into the wall.

"You think you've got what it takes to take us down?" He challenged. "You've got another thing comin, hotshot."

As he raised his claw, I saw the mark that must haunt any SAO these guys come across: the Laughing coffin mark.

These guys are still around? I thought as I kicked his arm aside and quickly got back on my feet.

"Kirito! Asuna! They're Laughing coffin!" I said.

"Got it!" Kirito said and knocked one of them back.

I looked to the Riolu player. "Can you fight?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I've got some attacks."

"Great. We need to drive these guys off." I said and was about to help Kirito when she grabbed my arm.

"By any chance...you're not the Michael that survived SAO...are you?"

I looked at her in confusion. "Why would...wait...Sarah?!"

She shrugged. "Yep...how's it going?"

I stood there, completely surprised. "Well. The avatar suits you." I told her and turned to face the Laughing coffin member as he stumbled trying to get back up.

"You little wretch!" He snarled. "You'll pay for this humiliation."

I chuckled. "Yeah, like that'll happen." I said and slammed him hard with quick attack, knocking him back to the ground.

I sighed. "They never quit, do they?" I asked and turned to Sarah. "I didn't know you were a player."

She laughed. "Yeah...surprise for me too." She said. "I'll confess, I was a huge Pokémon nerd when I was little, so I bought the game on the spot."

I smiled. "Well, it's nice to see you."

"Michael, watch out!" Kirito yelled suddenly.

I quickly wheeled around, and my palm started glowing as I socked him hard in the gut.

When he landed on the ground, his body started cackling with electricity as his health bar dropped rapidly.

He grinned. "You'll pay for this." He sneered and dissipated.

Kirito shook his head. "Man I hate these guys."

I nodded. "They've caused too many problems for me."

Sarah looked at me in confusion. "Wait, you understand Japanese?"

"Huh? No I have a translator on my nerve gear." I said. "Is yours not working?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know there was a translator. How do you set it up?" She asked as she opened her menu.

I walked over and helped her navigate the menu, making it where she can understand foreign players.

"You can understand us now, right?" Asuna asked.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah...but if you're speaking English to me and Michael...then what are we speaking to you?"

"Basic Japanese." Kirito replied. "But don't worry, after I met Michael I learned how to speak proper English."

I laughed and noticed the other three Sneasel trying to back get up. One of them realized that we defeated their pal and ran off. The other two just scowled at us and followed.

"I get the feeling we'll see them again." Kirito muttered.

I nodded. "Yeah, but not now. I don't know about you, but I think I overdid my time in here. I've got to log out." I said and opened my menu to hit the log out button...only to find it missing.

"No...you've got to be kidding." I said and closed it, reopening it just to find the slot missing. "No! Please don't be like last time!"

"What?" Sarah asked.

I quickly turned to her. "See if you can log out, Sarah. There's something wrong here!"

She nodded and went to find the log out button and froze. "It's...gone."

Kirito stared at me with horror. "That means...it's another death game!" He said.

"What?! No...this can't be right!" Sarah said. "I thought the SAO director was the only successful maker of those, and he's dead...right?"

Asuna nodded. "Whoever made this game...most likely worked with Kayaba. That's the only assumption there is."

Suddenly, lightning flashed over at the village, and an odd figure appeared.

"It's...the director." Kirito said.

I glared at the giant figure. "Let's hear what this guy has to say." I said.

"Greetings, players." The figure said. "I...am Kamaha Suguho, the new director of the Pokémon company, and you're in my world now." He said with a menacing voice. "Now, you may be wondering why I made another death game...the answer is this: I know that after what happened with SAO's downfall to the player Kirito, some of them still wanted to live the thrill of killing other players instead of the bosses. In that case, be my guest. That is until someone clears all the bosses in this game of course."

After he said that, I heard players cheering back at the village.

"Oh no...they're already turning red." Asuna said in horror. "What...what is this creep thinking?!"

"We've got to help!" I said and took off for the village.

As soon as we got to the courtyard, I could tell that all heck broke loose. Green markers turned red as players massacred other players.

"Towns aren't safe zones anymore!" Kirito said, horrified by the scene.

"Come on, we've got to get people out of here!" I said and ran through the crowds.

Suddenly, a Sneasel leapt towards me, ready to strike me with his claws.

"Die, boy!" He yelled when out of nowhere, a wind of hot embers flew right past me and hit him hard, knocking him back.

I wheeled around and saw a Charmander glaring at the Sneasel.

"Not this time, punk!" He yelled angrily and turned to me. "Come on! These players need help!"

"Right." I said and turned to the others. "Come on!"

We gave it everything we had to fight through the turning players, making sure others made it out.

As soon as I realized there were no green players left, I tried to fight my way through so I could get to Kirito and the others when I suddenly got whacked in the head, knocking me out immediately.

The last thing I heard before blacking out was hearing Kirito yell my name.

**oh...man! Now this new director has really crossed the line. **

**Okay, last warning, there are two spots open. There may be more, but I don't know. I haven't quite decided yet. But all in all, I hope u enjoyed it. **


	5. Chapter 4

**hey, what's up** **guys? How was Labor Day? Well here's a new chapter for ya. Hope u like it. **

Chapter 4

I wasn't sure what happened after I collapsed. All I knew was that I was stuck in another death game and some jerk knocked me out.

I started getting vision back, but I wasn't in the courtyard. I was at the entrance of the 75th floor boss back in SAO.

"I won't lie, this battle will be hard." A familiar voice said. I glanced over to the doors and saw Heathcliff.

Heathcliff, aka Akihiko Kayaba. To this day I'm still surprised he was the director and the final boss.

As Heathcliff repeated his speech, I felt someone grab my shoulder. I wheeled around and gasped. Right beside me stood Sam, one of the members of my guild.

"We've got this...right?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, but let's not get too confident." I told him. "Whatever this thing is must be harder than some of the ones we've fought."

"Right, got it." He said and drew his sword.

I drew my sword and braced myself when I felt someone grab my hand.

I turned and saw Avery, the girl I fell for in SAO.

"We'll be okay." She said. "Just be sure to stay close."

I smiled. "You know I will." I said.

When the doors opened, we followed the other players as we charged inside.

We waited for a bit when Asuna yelled. "Heads up!"

We glanced to the ceiling as the reaper fell towards us.

I woke with a start, finding myself laid down in the grass.

"You're awake." Asuna sighed in relief as I sat up. "We feared the worst."

I rubbed my head. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour." The Charmander said. "Don't worry, that player that hit you wasn't let off easily."

I nodded. "Thanks. I guess I owe ya. What's your name anyway?"

"Laochra." He replied.

Sarah looked at him in confusion. "Is that biblical?"

He shook his head. "No, it's Gaelic. It means warrior." He explained.

"It suits you, I'll tell you that." I admitted and stood up. "Looks like you've got something against LC players."

He expression changed. "More than you know." He said quietly.

"As we got you out, things got bad at the village." Kirito explained. "Some players got out, but I'm not sure we'll see them again."

"So what do we do?" Another Zorua asked.

"The only thing we can: clear the game." Laochra said. "That's the only way."

"Good luck with that." The Oshawott grumbled. "We don't even know who, or what the bosses are."

"Then what do you suggest, water boy?" The Zorua snapped. "Why don't we try asking the red players. I'm sure they'll love to help."

"Guys, enough!" I yelled. "This isn't going to help."

Laochra nodded. "Michael's right. We're all scared right now, but arguing about everything isn't going to help us get back home. This zone is huge. I'm sure we'll find some more players that can help us."

"Then what, make a guild?" Sarah asked.

"No! We don't need a guild. We're better off working as a party." I said.

"Michael...it won't be like before." Asuna said.

"I said no! I don't want anymore blood on my hands." I snapped and stormed off.

As I leaned against a nearby tree, I heard the Zorua ask what my problem was.

"Michael was the leader of a guild he made." Asuna explained. "He was really close with all the members of his team."

"Something happened during one of our quests and the entire guild was wiped out." Kirito added. "I guess that's why he's reluctant to form another guild."

"That's why he was so quiet this morning." Sarah said. "I thought he was shy or something. He was so quiet in the classroom."

"He wasn't always that way." Kirito said and chuckled. "He had quite a sense of humor."

That was before what happened to Avery. I thought when I noticed a large group coming towards us.

"We need to move." I said as I walked back and turned to Kirito. "Are there any other towns nearby?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I checked the map, and it's good. There's lots of green players."

"Great. Let's head over." I said and turned to the other Zorua and the Oshawott. "You want to come?"

They nodded.

"The names Jason." The Oshawott said.

"Miles is the name." The Zorua added and grinned.

"Nice to meet you two. Now let's get moving." I said and ran over to the path leading to the new village Kirito called Basic village.

"Apparently this game is made up of zones, not floors." He explained. "And since there's eighteen types, there's eighteen zones."

"So how do we proceed?" Miles asked. "Just beat a boss and progress?"

"It's not going to be that easy." Kirito told him. "There's lots of Normal type Pokémon. We've just got to figure out which ones are the bosses."

"I didn't know you played Pokémon." I said.

He laughed. "Yeah...I used to play it a lot when I was a kid."

I grinned and activated my map to look over the zone. "There's six dungeons, so that means there's six bosses to fight." I said. "I guess the only thing we need to do now is find out what they are and beat them."

"Got any ideas?" Asuna asked.

I thought about that. "I have a hunch, and I'm hoping I'm wrong for a few of them." I said and deactivated the map. "Let's head over to the town and check things out from there."

"Before we go...what do we do if we run into any players, whether they're green or red?" Laochra asked.

"If they're green, we'll help them out. If they're red...let's stay on our guard." I told him.

He nodded. "Got it."

I turned away and clenched my fist. This isn't a game. It's just like SAO. I thought and looked towards the setting sun. But this time...I'll beat this game in less than a year. Whatever it takes.

As we walked into basic village, we noticed a large amount of players were just training or talking with each other.

"I wonder if they heard what happened." Sarah said.

"I think so. Suguho's voice was pretty loud, so I'm sure the whole zone heard him." I assured her.

She smiled and followed closely as we walked through town.

"It looks like it's all good." Kirito said. "Doesn't look like any of these guys would turn red."

"Let's just stay on our guard." I said.

"Never know when a rogue Zorua could turn on us."

"Hey!" Miles and Kirito retorted.

Asuna giggled. "I have to say, it would be good of we practiced our attacks more."

"What do you have in mind?" Laochra asked.

She grinned. "Dueling."

"Dueling?" I said in shock. "Did you forget what happens in those?!"

She shrugged. "We wouldn't push too hard. Just until our HP hits yellow." She said.

"Asuna makes a good point." Sarah said, looking through the guide. "It say here that battling bosses or winning a duel will gain you more experience points. Even if it's among guild or party members."

"It's better than battling Rattata Npc's." I muttered and sighed. "Okay...I guess we can do some duels. Just be careful and don't kill anybody."

Kirito nodded. "Michael, you know me and Asuna will be careful."

"I know. I trust you two." I told them and turned to the new guys. "But I just want make it clear for you."

Sarah nodded. "I understand."

I smiled and looked at the other three.

Miles grinned. "I hear ya."

"You got it, boss." Jason said.

I looked away. "Please...don't call me that."

"Oh, right...sorry." He said.

"It's fine, it's just...it brings back bad memories." I said and looked over to the fountain, where a lone Torchic stood glancing at the other competing players.

He looks lonely. I thought. "Hey, you looking for someone to train with?"

He looked at me with surprise and nodded. "Sure." He replied and walked over to us. "What guild are you?"

"We're not exactly a guild." Kirito said. "Though I'm surprised they're being formed right after the game launched."

The Torchic shrugged. "I guess those guys were planning on making them before all heck broke lose." He said. "I'm Nahliel."

"Michael." I said. "You alone?"

He nodded. "Unfortunately." He grumbled. My gut told me something was bothering him.

I looked over my shoulder and noticed Miles and Laochra starting a duel with each other.

"You know, we're training ourselves, so if you want to join in, that's up to you." I told Nahliel.

He shrugged. "That's fine with me."

I grinned and sent him an invite for a duel. He accepted and braced himself as the countdown started.

Once it hit zero, my palm glowed as I lunched and used Force palm on his chest, knocking him back.

"Not so fast." He said and scratched me across the side.

I looked at my meter and noticed that my bar was already close to yellow.

He must've been training non stop. I thought and sped towards him, ramming into his side with Quick attack.

He grumbled and attempted to scratch me again, but I endured it and smacked him again with Force palm, knocking him into yellow.

He shook his head and got up. "I have to say...you're good."

I grinned. "Thanks. Your attack stat was pretty good too. Were you training a lot?"

He shrugged. "Sort of."

"Well, that was a great fight. Even if it was pretty short." I said.

"Well, that's because we don't really have a lot of good moves." He said. "Once we're a higher level, then our battles become more intense."

I smiled. "Yeah, true." I said and started walking over to Sarah and Jason.

"By the way...are you really Nightbright?" He asked suddenly.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious. There was someone I heard of with the same gamer tag as you and I thought...maybe she's here too."

I looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? You're not...an SAO survivor, are you?"

He nodded. "Yep. I'm one of them."

I sighed. "You and me both." I said and pointed to Kirito and Asuna. "Along with those two. I think Laochra was one, but I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to ask. It's...hard to think about."

Nahliel nodded. "I know what you mean. Is that what makes you guys a team?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that they're willing to help, guild or not."

"Well...you got room for one more?" He asked. "I'm done sitting around here, waiting for someone to challenge me."

"Sure. The more, the better." I said.

He smiled. "Thanks. For the duel too."

"Hey, I hate seeing people looking lonely." I told him. "I'm all ears if you want to talk."

He smiled weakly. "Thank you...something tells me I can trust people like you."

**okay then. we now know Laochra the Charmander, Miles the Zorua, Jason the Oshawott, and Nahliel the Torchic (Nahliel is Golden Archangel's Oc, so be sure to give him some credit too. He sent his OC just as I started this chapter. And remember the other three Oc's. Two of them are not Fanfiction users, but let's give them credit. Along with 97. Thank you.)**

**there are actually more open spots. So it's not too late to send me your Oc's. Hope you liked the chapter. I know the battle was short, but hey...it happens. **


	6. Chapter 5

**hey, what's up guys? Here's a new Pokémon online chapters introducing two new Oc's. hope you enjoy. **

Chapter 5

As me and Nahliel walked back over to the group, I noticed Sarah and Jason doing pretty good with training.

"Wow...you guys are a natural." I said and looked at Sarah. "I thought you've never played an MMO before."

She laughed. "Believe me...this is my first game." She wheezed. "I never knew Riolus move this fast."

Jason laughed. "Yeah. To be honest, when I played SAO, my skills were pretty high. It just took a while to get used to...this." He said, holding up his shell.

He then noticed Nahliel. "Who's the new guy?"

"His names Nahliel." I told him. "He's wanting to help."

"Well then...welcome to the guild. That is...if we were one." Miles muttered.

I sighed and was about to explain things to him again when I noticed a large crowd gathering over at the pavilion.

"I wonder what's going on." I said and started walking towards it. "Come on."

As we ran over there, I started hearing whispers of a dungeon someone found that led to one of the bosses we needed to defeat.

"Hold on, didn't the game just start?" A player beside me asked. "How did someone find the dungeon this fast?"

"The group that found it sent a Fletchling player to tell this town about it." Another player explained.

I tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but is there a meeting being held on this?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I guess so. Someone said to meet here, so I figure there would be."

"Hopefully this doesn't turn out to be like the first boss back in SAO." Kirito muttered.

I nodded. "I'm sure it won't." I told him and turned to the Machop. "Thanks."

"No problem, kid. Good luck." He said and went back to talking with his friends.

"Come on, let's head over." Jason said as we tried to get past the crowd.

Once we got to the pavilion, we noticed a Charmeleon with a Fletchling on his shoulder.

"Well, it looks like some people got the message." The Charmeleon said sarcastically as we sat down. "For those of you who are new, we're going over what this flyer here has to say."

The Fletchling hopped off his shoulder and flew the the ground.

"Okay, my group and I were able to find the first boss, so we're going to need a small army if we're going to be able to beat it."

"What's the boss then?" A player asked. "How do we know we're not going to die?"

The Fletchling sighed. "All we know is that it's a Persian. The leader of my guild has the guide around this zone and as you can see...I've got no pockets to carry one. You'll have to talk to the leader to find out."

A Zangoose grunted. "Great. We're relying on a small bird that might get all of us killed to a giant cat. That's real helpful, pipsqueak."

"He said we'll understand more when we get there." I said to him. "I don't know about you guys, but I trust him."

The Zangoose chuckled. "Then you're as much of an idiot as he is."

I glared at him when Sarah put her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't. It isn't worth it." She said.

I nodded. "Right."

Laochra tapped my shoulder. "Don't forget...if that punk tried anything, I'd burn him on the spot."

"Well, at least I know one guild that's willing to help." The Fletching said.

"We're not really a guild." Kirito told him. "But we'll help in any way we can."

The kid grinned and turned to the rest of the crowd. "Anyone else want to help?"

For a minute no one spoke, but then some of the players, party's and guilds stood up.

"We'll help out." The Machop I met before said.

"Okay then. We'll leave early tomorrow morning, so be sure to get prepped. We'll go over experience and items once we get there." The Charmeleon said.

As the other party's left, the Fletchling player flew up to the bench in front of us.

"Thanks for supporting me back there." He said.

"Hey, no problem." I told him. "I have to say it was smart of you to come back here and tell the town."

He grinned. "Yeah...but now I'm hoping my guild didn't take on the boss without me."

"Why? Are they known to?" Asuna asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. It's stupid, but we were able to pull through doing that in other MMO's."

"What about SAO?" Kirito asked.

He shook his head. "Never played it. I heard about the incident but...I never got into it."

"Hey Zack, you coming?" The Charmeleon player asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming." He replied and was about to go after him, but then turned to us. "If you're going to take on a boss, u might need to get some armor. There's a shop in town that sells some good armor."

As Zack flew away, Sarah looked in her inventory.

"We would get some if we had some cash." She grumbled. "I'm broke."

"I guess it's good that me and Asuna converted our avatars then." Kirito said. "We're completely loaded with gold."

"You sure the NPC's here will take them?" Laochra asked.

"It should. It'd be a waste if it didn't." I said. "In the meantime, we should improve our attacks and stuff before tomorrow."

"Agreed. I don't know about you, but our avatars learn new attacks pretty fast." Miles said. "I mean, I was training with Laochra earlier, and I suddenly learned Shadow ball just like that."

I nodded. "That happened to me too." I said. "Let's just keep it up."

As I started walking towards the courtyard, Laochra tapped my shoulder.

"Michael...I know you're against this, but we're going to need to form a guild. We have enough people to make a formidable team." He said.

I sighed. "I know, but...I don't want anything bad to happen to everyone." I said. "Unless we can find a better leader, we're not forming one. I've lost...too much."

Before he could say anything, I walked off and headed towards the store Zack told us about.

They didn't have a lot of stuff. Most of it was just leather armor and stuff. Not enough to keep anyone alive; but if Zack recommended it, they should work.

Good thing I converted my avatar too. I thought. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to get this kind of stuff.

"There's not a lot for four legged Pokémon." Kirito grumbled. "Great, so all I can get is a helmet."

I laughed and moved scrolled through the list until I got to a leather jacket that came with a good set of armor.

"Well, there's one thing I like wearing on my spare time." I said and tapped the picture. Another heads up menu appeared, asking for color options.

Never knew they had this. I thought and selected blue as my primary and black as a secondary color.

As soon as I hit "ok", the jacket automatically equipped itself.

"Wow...you look nice." Sarah said.

For some unknown reason, I could already feel myself blush. "Thanks, Sarah." I managed to say as I looked at the armor, the knee guards, the helmet, and the bracers that came with it. "This I can get used to."

Once I put the armor in my inventory, I noticed the Zangoose from the meeting; glaring at me.

I decided not to provoke him and turned away to help the others with their gear when something grabbed my shoulder and threw me aside.

"You've got quite a mouth there, boy." He said. "You known to tick people off in your hometown?"

I quickly got back on my feet. "You got a problem? Then spit it out." I said.

He gritted his teeth. "Well, first off...you think you're going to be some kind of hero, but you're nothing but trash." He sneered. "Besides, who wants to clear the game anyway? It's better here than it is in the real world."

"Don't you get it? We're on a time limit." I snapped. "Dying in the game isn't the main problem anymore. If we don't clear the game, then the players here will start dying out. One by one. You, me, your buddies, everyone."

He huffed and brushed past me. "Just stay out of my way if you know what's good for you." He said. "Otherwise, I'll drop you like a Seviper."

Like I'd take orders from you. I thought.

"Don't listen to him." Sarah said. "In my opinion, he's likely to join the reds."

"I hear ya." Laochra said. "People like him deserve to be Laughing coffin members."

I grunted. "No kidding." I said and noticed how much time has gone by. "We'd better start training, that way we'll have more of a chance of beating the boss tomorrow."

They agreed, and we went in groups of two so they can take each other on. Since I had no one else, I decided to train with Sarah. I have to admit, she's quite a fighter. She threw Force palms at me with incredible speed, I thought she could beat Asuna's speed. (Don't tell Asuna I said that.)

The whole night we practiced our attacks on each other, trying to improve them or learn new ones along the way.

The duel ended with Sarah's HP hitting yellow, which meant that I won.

"Not bad. Next time I won't go so easy on you." She said as I helped her up.

I smiled. "You don't have to." I said and accidentally pulled her harder than I wanted, and she ended up in my arms.

"Oh...my bad." She said, blushing as she quickly pulled away.

I rubbed my head. Whoops.

Morning came, and the crowd had already met back at the pavilion where we had the meeting.

Something was wrong though. Half the players that were here last night were gone. Even the Zangoose guy was gone (much to my relief).

"I guess the others don't care about clearing the game." Kirito said.

"Let's not dwell on it now." Asuna told him. "We've got a dungeon to clear, so let's get it done."

"As usual, I like the way you think, Asuna." I said, looking over to Sarah, who quickly turned to look at Zack and the Charmeleon.

Is she still embarrassed about last night? I wondered. I hope not.

"Okay! Thank you guys for coming." The Charmeleon said. "Hopefully you got yourselves fit for battle, cuz Zack says this dungeon was pretty tricky."

"Just a bunch of Meowth and stuff." Zack said. "Nothin to worry about. Kevin here is just trying to mess with all of ya."

I chuckled as a few other players either grumbled or just let out a sigh of relief.

Kevin looked over the giant crowd and nodded. "Well, it doesn't look like anyone else is coming; so I guess we should head out-"

"Wait just a minute, scorch boy." A familiar voice sneered. "We want some of the action too."

We all wheeled around and saw Zangoose with his other friends at the pavilion entrance.

"Well, the more the better." Zack muttered, trying to conceal a scowl.

"You got a problem, bird brain?" Zangoose challenged.

"Nope. Not at all." He replied. "Now let's head over to the dungeon before my guild gets wiped out."

As everyone got up from the benches, I noticed the Zangoose glare at me and walk with his buddies.

Stay out of my way. He had said.

Easier said than done. I thought. Especially with you around.

**okay then...the group has some armor, and they know who the first boss is. **

**But what's up with the Zangoose? There's something fishy about him. And I wonder if Michael will ever change his mind about forming a guild. *shrugs* I don't know. Sure im writing the story here, but I'm writing whatever pops in my head. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. **


	7. Chapter 6

**okay...here's a new chapter for Pokémon online. Hope this one turns out good. I got flamed...harshly recently in another story, so I'm doing my best to make this and all my other stories better.**

Chapter 6

The walk through the plains was pretty long. With Npc Meowth's and other normal types attacking us, we had to wait for some players to beat them.

"At this rate, we'll only get halfway there by nightfall." Laochra grumbled.

"Hey, at least they're blasting them off again." Miles joked.

I laughed as Jason whacked him upside the head with his scalchop.

"What? You don't remember the anime?" He asked.

Suddenly, I heard something deep in the bushes beside us. It sounded like a grunt or something.

"Guys, quiet." I said, slowly walking towards the bush. For a moment nothing happened, so I decided it was nothing and and walked back to the others.

"What's up?" Nahliel asked.

I shrugged. "Thought I heard something. It's probably nothing. I'm still trying to get used to my improved hearing with this avatar."

"Riolus do have pretty good hearing." Asuna said.

I nodded. "Come on, let's go catch up with the others."

As we ran up, I took a quick glance back at the bush. Again, nothing happened.

I don't know...I could've sworn it was something. I thought and caught up with the others.

"Well, this is as far as we can go tonight." Kevin said as we got to a clearing. "We'll camp here. I'm going to need some volunteers to keep watch, that way we're not attacked in our sleep by NPC's or red players."

Lots of hands and paws went up in the air, making Kevin sigh as he decided which few players will be on first watch.

The rest of the players (our group included) went to collect things to make a good fire. There were some nearby trees, but not a whole lot of them were good.

Luckily, you didn't need to cut them down to get wood. All you had to do was attack them once, and you'll receive some firewood. The tree will disappear after other players have harvested wood from it.

Once we got back to the camping spot; me, Laochra, and Nahliel helped making the campfire.

"We don't want it too bright." Kirito said as we set it up. "Might draw attention."

Once the fire was made, we all sat around and ate some food Asuna had made with the games Oran berries.

"Well, I have to say I like your cooking." I said. "I've never had a chance to try it before."

She laughed. "Well, you and your team always took off to find dungeons to clear."

I rubbed my head. "Yeah...my bad."

Everyone laughed. For some reason, it already felt like we were best friends already.

"So Michael, if you don't mind us askin...what's the story behind you three?" Miles asked and turned to Kirito. "You're from Japan, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Me and Asuna are. I met Michael when I was helping a player revive her familiar. He disguised himself as one of the orange players and helped me arrest someone. After that, we've seen each other a few times as we cleared dungeons and stuff."

"That was until the seventy fourth boss." Asuna said. "That was when I met him. He fought like a frenzy."

I sighed. "Yeah. Good times."

"What was your guilds name?" Laochra asked. "If you don't mind me askin."

I grinned. I guess telling these guys won't hurt. "The Guardians of light." I told them.

Jason nodded. "That's a good one. Good ring to it."

"Wait...Guardians of light...I've heard of that guild." Nahliel said. "Did you...have anyone with the name Avery?"

I looked at him in surprise. "You...you knew her?"

He nodded. "She saved my life. Well, I saved hers; but if I didn't step up...I wouldn't be here." He said. "Tell me, is she still alive? I haven't heard from her when SAO crashed."

I looked away. "I hate to tell you this, but Avery was killed by the seventy fifth boss." I said. I could already feel my eyes welling up. "My entire group was wiped out, and I'm still here like it's some sick joke."

"Stop, Michael. Just stop!" Kirito snapped. "We had no idea what was going to happen that day. That...thing was unpredictable."

"I led them." I told him. "Avery, Sam, Kenny, they all depended on me, and I let them down."

Nahliel sat there, staring at me. "At least...you got to be with them until the end." He said.

"You still don't get it, do you?! Sam was my younger brother!" I said angrily. "He didn't go with me on some dungeons, but when he did...I made sure I protected him from those monsters. And Avery...oh gosh, we fell head over heels for each other. I can't forgive myself for their deaths."

For a minute, I was silent. I didn't want to say anything.

Suddenly, Sarah put her hand on my shoulder and sat next to me.

"Michael...you're a good person. I'm positive you did your best to protect them. Things just...happen that are beyond our control." She told me.

She was right. For two years I've never thought that...even I though I've done my best to keep my friends safe...I have no control over everything.

"Thanks, Sarah." I said and yawned. "It's late, so we should probably rest up for tomorrow."

"Yeah. Never knew Asuna might have to sleep on the grass again." Kirito joked, only get whacked upside the head.

I laughed and laid back on the grass, thinking about what Sarah and Kirito have said.

I guess I've been blaming myself too much. I thought and fell asleep.

It'll take some time for me to really accept it, but Sarah's right. Things happen beyond our control.

Even in a video game.

The next morning we quickly got back on the road. To our surprise, there weren't a lot of NPC's like yesterday.

"What's up with this?" Jason asked. "Not a whole lot of action today."

"I guess a player or two must've cleared the path last night." Miles suggested.

"Most likely." I said, reading the overhead map in my menu.

Suddenly, a beacon went off just a few feet away from our position.

"We're here!" Kevin hollered from the front.

"Let's see what's up." Laochra said, and the eight of us ran to the front to meet with Kevin and Zack.

"Looks like you brought an army." A voice grunted as we ran up. "This boss is just a Persian."

"Yeah, but you never know what might happen." Kevin said to a Machoke. "We could use all the help we can get."

The Machoke shrugged and noticed us walking up. "Who are those guys?"

"They're friends." Zack said. "They're the ones that motivated some of these guys to come help."

Machoke nodded in approval. "Well, I thank you." He said and turned to Kevin. "You brought them here, so I guess you'll go over the battle spoils."

Kevin nodded. "You bet." He said and turned to face the crowd. "Okay, here's the deal: experience points will go to all players that take part in the fight along with gold. If you make the final kill, you get to keep the dropped item. Understood?"

Everyone accepted. As we all equipped ourselves with our gear, I noticed Zack talking to an Altaria.

I wonder who that is. I thought. And put on my helmet.

"Okay then, let's clear the path!" The armored Machoke said and kicked open the door.

We all ran in, bracing ourselves as a giant pale cat leapt towards us from the back of the room.

"Now!" Machoke yelled and slammed it with a Brick break.

My hands glowed as me and Sarah jumped forward and smacked Persian with Force palm.

It growled and swiped right below my foot, knocking me off balance.

"Michael!" Kirito yelled and tackled Persian, barely dealing damage before getting knocked away.

As Kirito rolled on his side, Persian was just about to pounce him when something grabbed hold of it. I leaned to the side and saw Kevin holding on for dead life.

"Now you two!" He yelled.

To my surprise, Zack and the Altaria flew past me with incredible speed. Zack hit Persian with Steel wing while the Altaria attacked it with Sky attack.

Wow! They're good. I thought and stood up, looking over to Jason, Laochra and Nahliel.

"You guys got any special moves?" I asked.

"Depends on what your definition of "special" is." Laochra replied. "If you're referring to Ember, then yeah."

I nodded. "Go ahead and attack!" I said.

Both Laochra and Nahliel blasted Persian with embers while Jason doused it with Water gun.

"Let's finish this!" Kevin said and blasted Persian with Flamethrower.

I looked over my shoulder and noticed all the other players joining in.

Perfect. I thought and sped right past them with Quick attack and smacked into the boss.

As I sped around Persian; dealing as much damage as I can, I noticed it take another swipe at the Altaria, knocking her out of the sky.

I leapt up and caught her, landing a few feet away from the battle.

"You okay?" I asked.

She winced and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

I quickly rummaged through my bag and pulled out a potion. "Take this. That attack already got your HP down to red."

She nodded. "Okay, but be sure to help Zack."

I smiled. "You have my word."

Before she could reply, I handed her the potion and quickly rushed back into the fight.

I'm not letting anyone die today. I thought as my hand glowed. Not this time.

I lunged and gave Persian a good force palm in the back, paralyzingly him.

"Nice one!" Kevin yelled and turned to the other players. "Let's finish him off!"

I grinned and turned to Sarah and the others. "You ready?"

They nodded, and we braced ourselves.

Kirito and Asuna were the first to attack with Embers and Bites.

I was just about to follow when I noticed the Zangoose sneak past the crowd, going towards Kevin with his claws extended.

"Kevin! Watch out!" I yelled.

He glanced at me with confusion and saw Zangoose, quickly blasting him with Flamethrower.

"Back off!" He yelled and accidentally lost his grip on Persian's tail. It noticed and knocked him straight into Zangoose's claws.

"NOO!" I yelled, watching in horror as Kevin's HP dropped to zero, and he derezzed into tiny cubes.

I could already feel the rage building as I watched Zangoose's marker turn red.

"You...you traitor!" I yelled and dashed straight towards him, not noticing his other two companions as they knocked me aside.

"You know, Michael. I never really knew you had the guts to pull anything off." Zangoose said, kneeling right next to me. "Standing up for what you believe in is such a pathetic move anyway. Especially here in the game."

And with that, he drove his claws in my back, pinning me to the ground as he slowly drained my HP.

"Oops. Looks like I'll really have a bounty on my head now." He snickered and pushed harder.

I quickly glanced over to Kirito and the others, who were busy trying to finish off Persian.

"Oh...you're worried about them too, huh?" Zangoose sneered. "Well don't worry. I, Ro Howlett, will take care of them."

I managed to let out a gasp of pain as my health dropped faster. Once it hit red, I knew it was over.

I'm...sorry, everyone. I thought when I felt the claws suddenly slide out of my back. With all the strength I could muster, I moved over and saw Sarah knocking them away.

"Leave. Him. Alone!" She yelled as she gave him and his partners a series of Force palms.

As I struggled to get up, I noticed Howlett pulling out a teliportation crystal, grinning at me.

"See ya...if you live!" He said and warped out with his partners.

I held into my wound as Sarah ran back to me, grabbing a potion from her bag. As I took a sip, I heard the other players cheering.

They must've beaten the boss. I thought and winced as my wounds closed.

"Michael!" I heard Kirito yell; and the group ran beside me, helping me stand up.

"Where's Kevin?" Zack asked as he flew up to us with the Altaria.

I looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes, or explain what happened.

"Kevin...he got killed." Sarah said. "That...that Zangoose killed him."

The other players started murmuring, wondering if anyone else was a red player or not.

Zack shook his head angrily. "I should've known that guy was up to something!" He yelled. "He didn't...he didn't deserve that!"

"Howlett did it so that it'd be easier for the boss to kill the rest of us." I said. And since I was the only witness...he tried to kill me too."

"Then we need to find this guy and end him!" The Machoke said. "Put a bounty on his miserable head, and we'll track him faster than you can say Ho-oh!"

"He deserves that much!" Another player yelled. "No one kills a green and gets away with it. Not this time!"

I looked over to my group and nodded. "We'll do it. We'll avenge Kevin. I promise you that."

Machoke nodded and opened his menu, flipping through his inventory. "I got the last kill item, but since you tried to help Kevin...I think it's fitting that you take this." He said.

An option menu appeared in front of me, asking me if I'll accept a staff.

"You take it." I said. You earned it.

He shook his head. "It requires a Pokémon that can use Aura sphere. I can't, so I have no use of this thing."

I sighed and hit the check mark, adding the staff to my inventory. "Thanks. I'll make good use of it."

Machoke grinned and nodded, looking over everyone else. "Quite a team you got here kid. I'm sure you'll make a fine guild." He turned to Zack and the Altaria. "You two should go with him. They could use someone like you."

"But...aren't we already a guild?" Zack asked.

Machoke shook his head. "Not anymore. To be honest, I met end up sending you back to a town all the time, and you wouldn't gain any points. I think you're better off with them."

And with that, he hit the dissolved button, and the guild icon disappeared from Zack and Altaria's HP gauges.

"Good luck, guys." Machoke said, pointing to himself. "If you need anything, Trevor's here to help."

As he and the others left, I quickly summoned the staff from my inventory and leaned on it to stay on balance.

"You okay?" Laochra asked. "I'm really sorry. We were so busy trying to wipe out Persian...we had no idea Kevin was killed."

"It's not your fault." I said and sighed. "But with Howlett and his goons on the loose; and these bosses are at a higher difficulty...I think it's best to form a guild after all."

"You're serious?" Jason asked. "What about all that stuff you said about not wanting all that blood on your hands?"

I smiled. "After what I saw today, with the teamwork...I'm sure we'll be fine."

Kirito nodded. "So what's the guild's name going to be?"

I thought about that. There were lots of names that came to mind, but I'm not sure which one would properly suit us.

"I say we bring back the Guardians if light." Nahliel suggested. "In memory of the fallen members."

I smiled and nodded. "That works. I'm sure Avery and Sam would appreciate that."

He grinned. "But if anyone's going to lead us...it's you. You got us this far, now it's time to lead us further."

I looked around, noticing that everyone was agreeing.

"But...what if one of us falls?" I asked.

"If that happens...just know that we fell for the team to keep going." Laochra said.

I sighed and activated the guild maker option, listing everyone's name...except for the Altaria.

"Oh...my names Emm." She said. "I'm Zack's twin sister."

"Welcome aboard." I said and added her name, making us the new Guardians if light.

I guess they're right. If we do fall, we fell to save everyone else in this world.

**okay then. The Guardians of light have returned. But they took a hard loss because of the Zangoose known as Ro Howlett. I wonder what will happen next.**

**After this chapter, I might end up in a block, so if you guys have any ideas, fill me in, and I'll try my best. Cheers. **


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey...where is everybody? Just kidding. Anyways, heres chapter seven. The ending was pretty tricky, but im sure you'll like it. **

Chapter 7

After we got back to Basic village, we noticed that a bunch of wanted posters were put up.

"Looks like the hunt for Howlett's already started." Laochra said.

I nodded. "Yep. Looks like it."

"Great, we've been stuck in this game for...what, three days, and we're already bounty hunters." Zack grumbled.

"At least it gives us something to do while we're looking for the other dungeons." Sarah said. "I don't think fighting Rattata NPC's will entertain us enough."

I chuckled. "Yeah. True."

"So where do we go to establish our guild?" Sarah asked. "Isn't there a place where you sign it up or something?"

"No, the leader of the guild is supposed to send you an invite." Laochra explained and turned to me. "Speaking of which, how come you haven't done that yet?"

"Hey, I had to do it once we were back to Basic village. I don't want to form a guild in the middle of a death zone and end up losing everybody."

"He's got a point." Asuna said. "Better to team up in a safer place than it is in a dungeon."

I laughed and went to the guild creation option in my heads up menu, put in all the other's gamer tags, and sent them the invites.

Once they accepted, my old emblem appeared right over their HP gauges, identifying them as a Guardian of light.

"So...what do we do now?" Sarah asked.

"I think it'd be best if we started looking for the other cities and dungeons." Kirito said. "And hopefully find the gate that leads to the next zone."

"There's a gate?" Nahliel wondered.

Asuna nodded. "You have to defeat a certain number of bosses to be able to unlock it." She said.

"Where'd you hear all this?" I asked.

Kirito looked away. "I uh...overheard one of the players as we headed towards Persian." He said, laughing.

"And now you decide to tell us?" I laughed. "Come on, Kirito."

He shrugged. "Sorry. Must've slipped my mind when we fought a giant feline!"

"Good point." I muttered.

"If we're going to have an upper hand against these bosses, we're going to need some extra hands." Nahliel. "The more, the better."

"I'm sure we'll run into more people as we walk around the zones." I told him and smiled as we started walking out of the village. "Besides, I've always dreamed of being on a Pokémon journey when I was a kid."

"This isn't a journey. This is survival." Miles muttered. "If you want to be on a journey for real, you'll have to make your own Pokémon MMO."

I shrugged. "Maybe...if no one's made it yet."

"Good luck with that." He said.

I rolled my eyes laughing when I suddenly heard something. It was faint...but it sounded like a fight.

"I hear it too." Sarah said and turned to the others. "Let's go!"

I nodded and we dashed towards the noise as fast as we could, evading the attacking NPC's as we ran.

"Get back! Stay away from me!" I heard a voice yell.

"Sounds like more Laughing coffin." Kirito grumbled.

"Let's see if Howlett's with them!" Laochra said.

I nodded and leapt ahead of them, passing a small hill to see five Sneasels ganging up on a Cyndaquil and a Treecko.

"What the...what are those two doing here?" Nahliel asked. "Not to mention alone."

"Let's help them out!" I said and dashed towards one of the Sneasels, smacking him square in the face with Force palm.

"Ow! You dirty rotten-!" He tried to finish his curse before Sarah blasted one of his buddies into him.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt you? My bad." She said, acting surprised as she smacked him again with Force palm.

One of the Sneasel players tried getting back on his feet, scrambling away in fear, followed by his goons.

"Yeesh! I hate reds." The Treecko grumbled. "They always think it's best to ruin someone's day."

"I hear ya. They're a bunch of cowards." Laochra said as I walked up the the two new players.

"What brought you two out here, out in the open like this?" I asked them. "It's pretty dangerous, you know."

The Cyndaquil rubbed his head, snickering nervously. "Let's just say we were heading towards one of the villages."

"Until he decided to try and evolve." The Treecko muttered.

I looked at Cyndaquil in confusion. "You wanted to evolve?"

He nodded. "Come on, you think a Cyndaquil's able to beat a death game! If I was a Quilava I should have a decent amount of stats."

"Not to mention speed." The Treecko added. "That's why I chose this Pokémon as an avatar."

That does make sense. I thought. "So you're close to evolution then...what's your name again?"

"David." He replied and looked away. "David the timid."

"Why do you call yourself that?" Sarah asked. "You stood your ground when we found you."

"Yeah, but only when I get frightened. I'm surprised I've lasted this long in this stupid game."

"You and me both, kid." Nahliel muttered.

"Well, why don't we help you guys gain a level?" I suggested. "Just to help you out."

David looked at me in surprise. "You sure? I thought you were heading to another town or something."

I shrugged. "We were, but who said I couldn't help anyone in the way?"

"Wouldn't you hate it if Suguho changed that on us?" Laochra muttered with a grin.

David glanced to Treecko, then nodded. "Sure, you can help." He said. "But the NPC's around here don't give enough EXP."

I rubbed my chin and turned to Zack. "You think you can fly up to see if there's any small dungeons? We'll follow as you go."

He nodded. "Sure. See you on the other side." He said and took off.

"Come on, let's follow him." Emm said and lifted off to follow her twin.

Everyone looked at me, waiting for a reply.

"You heard the cloud. Let's go." I said and walked after the two fliers.

It didn't take long for Zack and Emm to return to us with news.

"There's a dungeon just half a mile away, and the place is swarming with NPCs." He said.

"Sounds rough." David muttered shyly.

"They're not that strong. Mostly just a bunch of Slakoth." Emm added. "But I checked the status of the cave. It should give David and his friend enough EXP to evolve."

"The names Axel!" The Treecko told her.

"Are you sure we should go in now?" Asuna asked. "It's getting dark, so it'll make it hard to see if we walk in."

"Can't you just use your fire attacks to light the way?" David asked.

"She tried that once. The game doesn't let you." Kirito said and turned to me. "Without a Pokémon that knows Flash, it's best to camp out here for the night."

I nodded. "You're right. Well clear this mini dungeon in the morning and head to the next town." I said and sighed. "Does anyone have any spare firewood from the last trip?"

"I've got some." Laochra said and spawned a small pile of wood in front of us. "Will this work?"

"Yep, that'll do." I said as he blasted it with Ember, lighting up the wood.

"Gotta love being a dragon." He said and sat down.

"Well technically, you're not a dragon yet." Sarah said. "You still have a few more levels to advance before becoming a Charizard."

"True." He admitted and spawned an Protein, on of those Pokémon energy drinks that not only taste good, but also raised his attack.

"I'm finally glad to get off my feet." Sarah muttered as she sat down, rubbing them. "They're killing me."

"You should've told us that before hand." Miles said. "We would've stopped."

"Oh, it's fine. I'm not one to tell the world about my problems." She said.

Nahliel chuckled "You're a trooper, kid."

"Yeah, well...I have a younger brother, and we love to wrestle each other for fun." She explained and looked away. "I hope he's okay."

"Is he stuck in here too?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, it's just...it'll be hard for him to see me in the hospital. Especially after...Mom."

Once she said that, I sadly looked away. "I'm sorry. It...must've been hard."

She nodded. "Yeah. There was an accident a couple years back, and we didn't even get a chance to say goodbye." She said. "It took me and my brother forever to get over it."

"We know how it feels, losing someone you care about." Laochra said. "I'm sure we've all lost someone we cared about. I mean...I lost a good buddy of mine on the sixty-seventh boss battle."

Kirito looked away. "It's tough. When I played SAO, I teamed up with the guild known as the Moonlit black cats. Things went by okay, but after getting trapped in a red zone...they were wiped out."

"Most of you already know my story." I said. "I played SAO, formed the original Guardians of light, then ended up losing my brother and Avery."

"You and me both." Nahliel said. "Like I said, she save me from committing suicide in that horrific game."

"Why would you do that?" Sarah asked.

"Let's just say...I was a target to bullies. After a while I just gave up and bought the game just to fall to my death...but saving Avery from the Laughing coffin changed all of that."

"That's kind of how it is with me." Emm said. "I was an SAO survivor myself, and after going through that...I just want to make sure I keep my brother out of harms way."

I nodded. "I understand. Just know that we're a team. I'll do everything in my power to make sure you guys return to the real world." I told them. "All of you."

"Well, we should get some sleep." Asuna said. "I'll keep watch with Kirito."

I nodded. "Sounds good. The rest of you get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow."

As they started to fall asleep, I knew things were bugging them that kept them awake.

They're scared...all of them. I thought and sighed as I laid down. I'm scared too. More scared than I was in SAO.

Suddenly, I felt something touch my hand. I turned my head and saw Sarah, sleeping peacefully with her hand in mine.

I smiled. But...I know this team will survive.

I'll make sure of it.

**yeesh! Lots of determination with Michael here. But, it looks like we have two new Oc's in here. Meet David and Axel. I hate to admit it, but I have no idea who sent Axel in, but I'll give him some credit with Special ops Dave, who sent in david the Cyndaquil. **


	9. Chapter 8

**Alright. Here's chapter eight to Pokemon online. Hope u like this one. This one was pretty tricky. **

Chapter 8

You could probably say I slept well that night. Wrong. That memory I had before came back again.

It started out the same as last time. We're getting geared up, I reassure Sam and Avery, then we charge inside the boss's chamber.

It's like it's trying to haunt me. I thought when the Skull reaper came down on top of us.

"Watch out!" Sam shouted and shoved me to the side, taking a direct hit from the boss's attack.

"SAM!" I yelled in horror, watching as his HP severely drops to red.

"I've got him!" Avery said and leapt towards sam, blocking one of the reapers attacks.

No way am I letting them die! I thought and started running towards them, until I felt as if I was pinned to the ground by my neck.

What the...what's going on? I wondered as I suddenly woke up, finding myself literally pinned down by a Weavile claw.

"Well look who decided to wake up." He sneered and turned to face someone else. "Take them in. I'll take care of this one."

I managed to get a glimpse of a Sneasel taking the others inside the cave.

"You know what sucks, kid?" The Weavile asked. "You won't get a chance to watch your friends suffer inside that cave. Full of all those tough NPC's, not to mention the mini boss."

"Leave them alone!" I growled, struggling to get out of his grip, but he pushed me down harder.

"Nope. I'm trying to teach you a lesson here, Michael, so I think you should pay attention!" He said and pressed harder. "It's time you learned that good people deserve to be punished."

How does this guy even know my real name? I've never...no. I have met this guy before.

How could I have been so stupid? This is Mr. Lewis, the guy that socked me in the face the last time I saw him.

"You...you're with the Laughing coffin?" I asked.

He laughed. "Oh, so now you remember me, boy? I think it's time I gave you some payback for that day, when you got me fired!"

"You brought it on yourself." I said.

"Hmm...perhaps. But now I think the proper punishment for you is hearing the screams of your friends...just as your old pal Kevin tears them to shreds."

No! I thought and pushed up from the ground, but the only thing it did was slowly drop my HP with Lewis's claws on my neck.

"Shh...relax. It'll all be over soon." He said.

Suddenly, I felt the same rage I felt before start to rise as I suddenly slammed my hands into the ground, using my Force palm attack to launch is both in the air.

I quickly jumped back on my feet and used the same attack in Lewis's chest, knocking him back.

"No ones dying on my watch." I said and dashed into the cave as fast as I could.

They didn't really get far into the dungeon. I quickly recognized the others as I slammed into the Sneasel I figured was Kevin.

"What the...Lewis was supposed to-"

"Too bad!" I said and smacked him upside the face with Force palm.

Man I need a new move. I thought.

"Lewis?" Sarah asked as I helped her up. "He doesn't mean...Mr. Lewis, right?"

"I'm afraid so." I said. "Come on, we should get out of here before-"

"Michael, look out!" Miles yelled and pushed me and Sarah forward, taking a hit from a big Vigoroth.

"Miles!" I yelled and ran to his side as Sarah slammed into the Npc with Quick attack.

"Hope you have a good time, punk!" I heard Kevin shout as I watched him run off.

"What a coward." Laochra said.

"He's getting away!" Sarah said.

"Let him go. I'll deal with him later." I said and turned to Miles. "Hang in there, we'll get you patched up." I told him and handed him an Oran berry. "Take this. It won't do much, but it'll get you're Hp up to yellow."

He nodded and took the berry. I looked over to Axel and Laochra. "Get him out of here!"

"You got it!" Laochra said and grabbed Miles by the scruff. "Come on, you reckless fox!"

"Be sure to save some of the action for us too." Axel told me.

I nodded and turned to face the Npc, who was having a hard time fighting Sarah and David because of their Quick attacks.

Great. And I thought.

"Keep it up, guys!" I said when a blue orb formed in my palm, throwing itself into the wall.

"What the...how did I learn Aura sphere?" I wondered.

Then I remembered; Riolus can't learn Aura sphere until evolution. So that means this move is Focus blast.

About time I learned a special move. I thought and formed another orb between my hands. "Sarah! David! Watch out!" I said and threw it at the Vigoroth, hitting him in the chest.

"Nice one!" David said and slammed into him with Flame wheel.

As I watched the Npc stagger, I noticed that David's attacks aren't doing much.

I'm sure that if he evolved he'd be a lot stronger. I thought and turned to Kirito and Asuna. "Guys, I need a couple seconds! Help David with that thing!"

They nodded. "Way ahead of ya." Kirito replied and attacked with Foul play. I opened my menu and scrolled through the items I managed to pick up.

Come on...still be here. I thought when I found the item I was looking for: a rare candy.

"David, catch!" I said, spawning the candy in my hand and throwing it to him. "Use this!"

He caught it and nodded. "You got it!" He said and swallowed it whole, having a "Level up" icon appear over his head.

Suddenly, his body started glowing as he grew longer. When the light dispersed, we were looking at an excited Quilava.

"Sweeeeeet! I'm finally a Quilava!" He said happily and braced himself. "Now it's time to show this guy who's boss."

And with that, he blasted the Vigoroth with Flamethrower, dealing tons of damage.

"Someone's excited." Sarah said and charged towards the mini boss, smacking him in the face with Force palm.

He's not the only one. I thought and threw another Focus blast, nailing him square in the chest.

Suddenly, the Vigoroth swing us arm and smacked Sarah straight into the wall, knocking her out.

"Sarah!" I yelled and ran to her side. Thankfully, she didn't lose a lot of Hp.

"Hang on, I've got this!" Kirito said and threw a Shadow ball at Vigoroth, drawing it's attention to him.

"Man I wish I had my sword right now." I heard him grumble.

"You and me both!" Nahliel said as he blasted the boss with Ember.

I looked at the Vigoroth's Hp. "His health is almost done. We've got this." I said and threw another Focus blast at him.

"Let's finish this sucker!" Laochra said and blasted him with Flamethrower.

"What the...how'd you learn that?!" I asked.

"I have no idea." He said. "But I like this move. I'll stick with this one."

"He's not the only one that learned a move!" Axel said jumped in. Something did look different about him though.

"No way...you evolved too?" David asked.

Axel nodded. "You weren't the only one who was close to evolution, bud." He said, making the leaves on his wrist glow. "Time to show you my favorite move."

And with that, he dashed around Vigoroth, slashing him in frenzy with his new move I recognized as Leaf blade.

"Time to wing it!" Zack yelled as he and Emm dealt the final blow with Wing attack.

The boss twitched, then disintegrated into small cubes. Everyone except David and Axel had a level up icon above their heads.

I sighed in relief as I sat down beside Sarah, who was rubbing her head as she sat up. "What happened?"

"Let's just say...you got knocked out." Miles said, limping towards us. "Mike...thanks for earlier. I owe you one."

I grinned. "It's all good, Miles. Just...don't endanger yourself like that again."

He chuckled. "No promises there."

"Wait, did we all level up?" Zack asked. "How come I'm level thirteen?"

"I think that since we're a guild, we share the Exp the victor gets." I explained and turned to the newly evolved players. "But I don't remember sending you guys an invite."

"There's an option in the game where you can automatically join a guild." Axel said. "Let's just say...me and David signed up last night."

I grinned. "Looks like you're one of us then. Welcome to the group."

"I can't believe Mr. Lewis would do this." Sarah grumbled. "First he punched you in the face, then he tried to kill all of us."

"Who's Mr. Lewis?" Kirito asked.

"A teacher at our school." I told him. "Or at least...until he gave me a black eye."

"Great, so now there's Howlett, a nutcase teacher, and a world class bully trying to kill us. What else is new?" Jason grumbled.

"I don't know, but we should head out of here before it fills up with NPCs." I said and turned to Sarah. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for protecting me."

I smiled and helped her up. "We're a team, remember?"

She laughed. "Yeah. I hear ya." She said and kissed my cheek, surprising me.

As she walked away, I noticed Laochra and Kirito pointing at her, grinning like crazy.

"Oh, shut up." I said. They only laughed and followed her.

"Come on, lover boy." Miles said. "Let's get over to the next town."

"You said it." I told him.

As we walked out of the cave, I couldn't help but remember Avery.

I couldn't protect her that day. But this time...this time I won't let anyone die. Especially Sarah.

**Alright. Axel and David evolved, and everyone else gained a level. Miles and Sarah sure did have a close call though. **

**But Mr. Lewis and Kevin are on the mix...that can't be good. Looks like Michael's got a bigger bounty on his head than Howlett.**

**Oh...it has come to my attention that im getting lots of Oc's, so I think the invite might come to a close pretty soon. So anyone out there that wants their oc to take part of the action, let me know. The invitation might close after chapter nine or ten.**

**Whelp, hope you enjoyed the chapter. **


	10. Chapter 9

**hey, what's up guys? Here's chapter 9 to Pokemon online. Hope you enjoy it. **

Chapter 9

"Wow...quite a town." Kirito whistled as we walked into Tranquility city.

"Isn't this the biggest town in the zone?" I asked.

"I think so." David said. "And from what I hear; this town is the only safe zone in the whole...well, zone."

"Really? I thought Suguho said that there are no safe zones in this game?" Laochra said.

"The small villages aren't, but a player sent a memo saying that the big cities are the only place you're truly safe." Axel said.

"The creep was just trying to scare us." I grumbled, clenching my fist. "If he's the final boss like Kayaba, then you can bet I'm going to beat him."

"Well, we should probably get some supplies." Asuna suggested. "And, if we've got enough cash; we might be able to build a base for our guild."

"Like the Knights of the blood oath, huh?" Kirito asked. "I like the idea, but I'm not sure we can teleport like SAO and ALO."

"ALO?" Sarah wondered.

"It's a game that came out right after SAO crashed." Kirito explained. "It started out leading to a lie, but after I jumped in...things changed."

"All for the better." Asuna said, looking away.

Whatever happened must bug her a lot. I thought when I suddenly got bumped by another Charmander player.

"Hey!" Kirito said.

He quickly wheeled around as he ran. "Sorry, my bad. Just in a rush." He said and took off.

"What was that about?" Sarah asked.

"Looks like there's a huge crowd over at the courtyard." Zack said and flew off. "I'll go check it out."

"Go ahead, flyboy." Miles said. "We'll catch up."

Zack chuckled and took off towards the courtyard with his twin.

"Come on, let's go." I said and followed him.

"Uh...talk about crowds." I said, completely dumbstruck as I looked over the massive horde of people.

"Not a crowd fan, huh?" Asuna asked.

I shook my head. "Heck no. All they do is trample me over. Now you guys are fine; no pressure and all, but a horde of strangers coming at me...ugh."

"I remember you having an accident like that once." Kirito laughed.

I glared at him, forming a Focus blast on my hand. "Don't. Please...don't."

He waved his hands. "Okay, okay. Yeesh."

Asuna rolled her eyes and looked over the heads of all the other players. "Just what is going on?"

"It's some kind of special event." Zack said as he and Emm flew up to us. "I managed to get a page that explains it."

"Alright. Let's see what's up." I said and took the paper, looking over it.

"Well? What is it?" Laochra asked.

"It's an event that gives a player (or guild) a special ability." I said. "It already tells us the location of the next boss. But it also says that if we beat it...players can have Npc pokemon as pets."

"Now that's awesome." Jason said. "I wonder how that works.

I shrugged. "I don't know...but that could make it easier to clear the game. All we've got to do is beat the boss."

"That sounds a lot like a player I met in SAO." Kirito said and nodded. "Let's do it. Who and where is the boss?"

I looked over the page a bit more, feeling my heart sink. "The boss is a Slaking." I said.

"Oh...great." Laochra grumbled. "I hate those. They seem lazy at first; but when they're actually rating for battle...you might want to watch out."

"It's still a normal type." I assured him. "We can deal tons of damage with our fighting attacks."

"Uh...Michael, you and Sarah are the only ones that have those types." David said.

Crud. He was right. "We need to find a place that can teach you guys some good moves then." I said and rubbed my head. "Only...I'm not good around cities."

"We can help you with that." A voice said behind me. I turned around to see two Kirlias standing there.

"Hey there." One of them said. "I'm Raiden. This is my twin sister, Amber."

"Nice to meet you two." I said. "I take it you've been here awhile."

"That's right." They both said in unison, surprising me.

"Sorry...old habit." Amber giggled. "We have that twin thing where we say things at the same time."

"Makes sense." Laochra said.

"Do you know a place where we can learn moves?" I asked.

Amber nodded. "Yep. Come on, we'll lead the way."

As she and her brother lead the way towards the store, Zack tapped my shoulder.

"I honestly had no idea twins had that habit." He said. "Me and Emm are twins and we don't do that."

"I guess some twins are different." I said and started following the Kirlias. "Come on, we're losing them."

As we followed the new twins, I noticed two Pawniard glaring at us.

Great. More thugs. I thought as we stopped in front of a small shop.

"Here's the place you'll want to go." Raiden said. "Not only do you learn moves, but you also make moves of your own."

"Really? That's awesome!" Kirito said. "How does that work?"

"Well...it's actually pretty simple." Amber said. "All you have to do is name the attack, give it a type and decide whether it's Physical, Status, or Special. It takes a while to figure out, but it'll really help you."

"Oh, just know that the game will determine whether you're ready to have the move or not." Raiden said. "And what I mean by that is by evolution. Some pre-evolved forms can't handle certain attacks."

"That'll really help us." Asuna said. "I can already think of some good ideas for attacks."

"Same here." Laochra said.

I scratched my chin. "Well, I like this idea, but I'd hate having to wait until evolution to be able to use a move." I said and sighed. "But then, finding another city like this would take forever, so I guess it won't hurt to make a new move."

"Alright then. Let's go inside." Kirito said and walked in with Asuna.

"I knew those two would go in first." Sarah said.

I laughed. "Well, we've got a game to beat, so I can imagine how much those two want to return home."

She smiled. "True."

As soon as we walked in, I realized that there were only five booths, and every one of them were already being used.

"Looks like we'll be here awhile." Miles said.

I sighed. "Yep. Good thing they've got tables."

"I probably should've said that it gets pretty crowded in here." Raiden said.

Ya think? I thought and shrugged. "It's fine. At least they serve you." I said and sat at the table, opening up an order menu.

"Mind if I sit here?" Sarah asked, pointing to the chair next to mine.

"Not at all." I said as I ordered an Oran berry soda, flipping the menu over to her.

"Thanks." She said and looked over it. "So what are your plans for the boss?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Not sure yet. With the teams status, we'll have to get new members just to be safe."

She nodded as a small glass appeared beside her. "Hopefully I don't get knocked into a wall."

"That wasn't your fault, Sarah." I told her. "Things just...happen."

As I looked away, Sarah leaned on the table. "So what were they like? The people in the guild before."

I chuckled. "They were amazing. Sam...he was incredible with a sword and shield, nothing could get passed him. Me and Avery usually called him Link, cause he reminded us of the Zelda character."

She laughed. "That's awesome. He must've been a huge fan."

I nodded. "He was." I said. "Avery, she was the fastest and the smartest. There wasn't a single player that could have a better idea than her. And when we went to towns or cities, I would always challenge her to a race, and she'd always win."

Sarah smiled. "Those two meant a lot to you, didn't they?"

I nodded. "Yeah. When those two died, my heart just...shattered. When I woke up, I vowed to never play another MMO again."

"What changed your mind?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Honestly...I don't really know. When I got this game, the cashier told me about this world seed Kirito released. As soon as I heard his name...I guess I felt a spark of hope. Either that, or...when you stood up for me that day at school."

She smiled. "Well, I don't see who else would've. The whole school was full of thugs. You were the only one that stood out."

I chuckled. "Yeah. That's true." I said and took a sip of the soda, almost spewing it. "Holy cow, that's sour! Wow, that's way better than grapefruit!"

Sarah laughed, making me smile.

What didn't notice was Kirito and Asuna looking over at us, smiling.

**Ok. Meet Raiden and Amber, the twin Kirlias. note to the person who sent those two: I'm sorry if i don't have them fully evolved yet, but with the game just starting and stuff, I had to make them Kirlia. **

**Also, on that note: if you guys haven't noticed, there's been an update on the OC invitation. I'm adding another, but let me just say that the update is making a move of your own. be sure to check it out. **


	11. Chapter 10

**Wow...soooo many chapters this week. Man I think I'm getting a headache. :) hope you like this chapter. **

Chapter 10

After a couple hours, I was able to access one of the consoles.

The twins were right, setting the move up was simple, I just had to think of something on my part.

"Hmm...for an attack...I think I'll use something I'm more comfortable with." I told myself and typed the name "Aura's blade".

Perfect. I thought and drew out the way I wanted the attacks to look during battle. It took a while, but it was worth it.

When it asked for names the move will be shared with, I immediately put Sarah's name. I also remembered that Raiden's avatar evolves into a Gallade, so I gave him the move too.

Once I hit "finished", the move appeared in my list of known attacks, but I couldn't access it.

Looks like I have to evolve to learn this. I thought and sighed. "Whatever."

As I walked back over to the table, I couldn't help but notice the two Pawniards from before.

Why are those two staring at me? I wondered. I've never seen them before.

"Okay, so is there a faster way we can evolve?" Kirito asked as I sat down. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get tired of walking on four legs."

"Well, from what I've heard, certain Pokémon avatars evolve early." Amber said. "It's usually the starter Pokémon that take a while to evolve."

"That's swell." Jason muttered.

"Why make certain Pokémon evolve early?" Sarah asked.

"In my opinion; I'm not entirely sure, but Kirito's right. Having to walk on four legs gets pretty boring after a few days." Raiden said.

"Do you know which Pokémon evolve early then?" Asuna asked.

Raiden rubbed his chin. "Well, you're close to evolving, along with the lizard, the otter, and the tiny bird."

"We have a name!" Laochra said.

"Right, sorry." He said. "But the early evolutions would be...Zorua, Riolu, some Kirlia, Metang, Dragonair...and who knows what else."

"Now, does this also work with the pet Pokémon, or just players?" I asked.

"Pet Pokémon? Oh, that event everyone's going on about." Raiden said and shrugged. "We won't know that until it's unlocked."

"HELP! Somebody help!" A voice yelled.

I immediately stood up. "Did you guys here that?"

Kirito nodded. "Let's go!" He said, and we dashed out the door to see the Pawniards cornering a Charmander.

Wait a minute, isn't that the Charmander from before? I wondered.

"Come on, let's help him!" Laochra said and blasted his Flamethrower at one of the Pawniards, getting their attention.

One of them glared at me. "You! The boss wants to see you." He said when he suddenly got his face slammed into the wall by a Metang.

"Whoops, my bad." He said as the other tried to pounce him. But he was faster. He spun around and smacked him in the face, pushing him back. "He's all yours, Shulk!"

Shulk? I thought when a Pikachu jumped from the alley and smacked the Pawniards down with his tail.

Of course, there was no damage inflicted on either of them because of this safe zone.

The Pawniards that got his face planted managed to get himself out and glared at me. "You think that's funny, huh? Well you won't when you meet my other friends." He said and tapped his blades together.

For a second, nothing happened. But then at least eight more Pawniards came out of nowhere.

"You can't really do anything to us." Sarah said. "This is a safe zone."

"So what? We can still knock you out in this game." One of the thugs said and pointed at me. "Get him, boys!"

"We're not going down without a fight!" Kirito said and knocked one back with Dark pulse. "Back off!"

"You said it!" I told him and threw a Focus blast at one, ending up hitting two more with the explosion.

"Nice, kid." The Metang said, grabbing one by the head and smacking him down.

"You're pretty good too." I said and smacked one with Force palm.

Suddenly, a Pawniard's blade grew out of my chest.

"Perhaps we weren't clear. The boss wants to see you...now." He said.

"Maybe you're too ignorant to get the message: I'm. Not. Going!" I said when I suddenly felt a surge of electricity course through my body.

"Too bad, you're coming anyway."

"Michael!" Sarah yelled.

"Let him go!" Kirito yelled.

As I felt the painful electricity, I noticed my vision start to glitch, and my Hp bar start to deplete.

What?! That's...not possible. I thought, watching as it hit yellow.

This can't be it...please don't be it.

Suddenly, the glitches stopped; and my Hp went back to green.

"The fox said let him go." I heard a voice growl. "So I suggest you do it."

I fell on my knees, coughing and gasping for the fake air. Whatever bug those guys came up with...I could actually feel the pain.

"Michael...are you okay?" Sarah asked.

I nodded. "I think so. Who...who was that?"

"Another lizard and a...twin?" Axel presumed, pointing to another Grovyle, who was busy beating the crud out of the Pawniards.

"What...what did they do to you?" Sarah asked.

"I...I...don't..." I managed to sputter before blacking out.

* * *

"Micheal! Michael! Wake up, please!" A voice begged. I immediately recognized it as Sarah's

"Take it easy on him." Another said. "Whatever those guys did...it took some energy out of him."

"Who the heck were those guys?" I heard Kirito demand. "Those aren't...Laughing coffin, right?"

"No. They're worse." The new voice said as I started opening my eyes.

"I think he's coming to." Jason said, helping me lift my head. As I sat up, I realized that there were two Grovyles.

"What the...why are there doubles?" I demanded.

"Easy, easy." Kirito said and patted my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I...I'm not sure. What happened?" I asked.

"Slow down. There's...quite a bit to explain." The taller Grovyle said. "Let's just help you recover from that attack."

"I think it'd be more reasonable of you told us now!" I said.

He sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll explain. Those thugs you ran into aren't that group you guys fear. The...what are they called again?"

"Laughing coffin." Asuna said.

"Right. Those guys are worse. Much worse." He said and rubbed his head. "You're not going to believe this...but they work for the director of this game."

"WHAAAT?!" Everyone yelled.

The Grovyle nodded. "Yep. They don't exactly have a guild, and they're not identified as players. All I know is that they'll do anything to kill a green player. Especially in a safe zone like this city."

"That makes no sense. Why would Suguho target green players. It's not like we're doing anything bad." Asuna said.

"But we're doing something he doesn't like: we're trying to clear the game." I said and buried my head in my hands. "It's not like SAO. This...monster...wants us to die."

Without thinking, I angrily slammed a Force palm into the wall, making an "immortal object" icon appear.

"That's what my sources tell me." The Grovyle said.

"Sources? What are you, a cop?" Miles asked.

"A rookie. I was assigned on saving you players from death games like this and SAO." He explained. "As soon as I heard this was a trap, I jumped in as fast as I could. I just didn't think it'd be harder to clear."

"Well, we're grateful you came when you did." Amber said. "Michael means a lot to these guys."

"Michael? Do you all go by your real names?"

"Yeah...well I'm pretty much the only one here that goes by my username." Kirito said. "It kinda became a nickname I go by now."

"Well, considering the circumstances, I see no harm in that." He said and put his hand up. "I'm Canilive. If you don't mind, I'd like to assist you."

I shook it. "Pleasure to meet you. I see no harm in you joining."

He nodded. "Okay then. I'm sure you five would like to come too?" He asked the players that helped before.

"You bet! If Michael's going to lead us home, then I'm in." The Pikachu called Shulk said.

"I'm Steven. I'll assist you anyway I can." The Metang said.

"Count me in!" The Charmander that bumped into me said. "I'm Blaze."

"You can count on us!" Both Amber and Raiden said in unison.

I grinned. "Okay then. Let's work our way to the real world!"

"You said it, Mike." Miles said and pointed at the air. "We'll prove that sucker that he can't choose our fates for us!"

Now you're talking. I thought when I felt Sarah put her hand on my shoulder.

"Lead the way." She said. "Let's go kill us a boss."

I nodded. "Yeah, let's go!"

As we left the city, I looked over the map of the zone and the flier Zack got before.

The flier said that the dungeon was a small forest. I thought. This is going to be fun.

**wow...lots of members. Okay, after this chapter, there are no more Oc's being accepted. at some points, I will maybe give a special case. but for now, no Oc's. I'll have to update the invitation after this. **

**domt worry about keeping track of all the characters. I have a list of my own on my notes, so I'll be able figure out who's living, and...who's dead. (Which, no one's died yet.) this may sound weird, but if anyone is fine with having an OC of theirs...die, just let me know. No, I like your characters, theyre really cool, but...I'll stop talking now, talking about this kind of thing bugs me. **

**Hope you enjoyed. **


	12. Chapter 11

**okay...let's say that this chapter got really...really tricky for me, okay? With tons of ideas rolling through my brain...it's tough for me right now...I just hope you like this chapter. **

Chapter 11

"Okay...I've seen lots of weird places in MMOs, but man...this dungeon-"

"Is a forest. We get it." Miles told Nahliel.

"I was about to say "crazy", thank you very much." Nahliel retorted, smacking away a shorter Vigoroth. "Heh. They're not so tough."

"Well one things for sure: this place is a maze!" Laochra grumbled, accidentally smacking his foot into a rock. "Ow! Who put that there?!"

I laughed. "Okay, I suppose sticking together would make this dungeon a lot harder to clear. Let's split the team in half. That'll make it go faster."

"Sounds good to me." Kirito said.

I nodded. "Okay. Like I said, we'll cut the team in half." I said and pointed to Kirito. "Kirito, I'll have you lead for now."

He nodded. "Okay, whoever wants to come with me, let's get moving before any reds spot us."

As soon as he said that, Axel, Asuna, Zack, Steven, Amber, and Jason went with him while the other seven members went with me.

"Come on, let's look for that boss." I said, going a different direction than Kirito's group.

"How tough do you think the boss is?" David wondered.

I shrugged. "Not sure, but we'll beat him. I'm sure of it."

"I'll tell ya...I'm sure this battle will be awesome." Raiden said.

"Just remember to be careful." Canilive told him. "We can still die."

"Yeah, I know. It's just...I'm positive that we'll clear this dungeon without any trouble."

"Not to mention Howlett." I muttered.

"Who?" Blaze asked.

"Howlett is a red player we ran into our first boss raid." Laochra explained. "But now he's not the only one that wants is dead. Now it's Michaels school bully and his teacher."

"And now it's Suguho himself." I grumbled.

"Uh...do you guys mind if we drop the subject?" Sarah asked. "Michael's got a scary look."

I looked at her. "Oh...right. Sorry. Just thinking about them infuriates me." I said.

"It's a hard thing to deal with." Nahliel said. "I've made enemies of my own, both in the virtual and real world. I'm sure we all have."

I smiled. "Yeah...you make a good point."

"Speaking of the boss...I think we found him." Blaze said, pointing towards the giant doors up ahead...completely wide open.

"Did someone...make it here before us?" Sarah asked nervously.

To answer her question, there was a holler coming from the chamber.

"They need help." I said and started running towards the doors when Canilive grabbed my arm.

"Wait, we need to message Kirito." He said.

"If we wait, those players in there will die." I snapped. "I'm not letting that happen."

"Don't worry about the message." Emm said. "I'll go find them and bring them here. You guys go help!"

And with that, she took off to find the other half of the team.

"So what do we do? Just go in without the others?" Blaze asked.

"We're going to have to." I told him. "Come on!"

We dashed through the gaping doors to find a giant Slaking smacking away Some different colored Pawniards.

"They're green players!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Let's go help them out!" I said and tossed a Focus blast at Slaking's back, getting his attention.

Whoops. I thought as I dodged his Hammer arm.

"It won't matter now." Canilive said. "Let's beat this sucker!"

"You're speaking my language!" Laochra said as he blasted Slaking with Flamethrower, only to get swatted away like a mosquito.

"Laochra!" I yelled and glared at the boss. "You're going to pay for that." I said and smacked him in the chest with Force palm.

Sadly, none of my attacks are doing anything, even if they are super effective.

This would be a heck of a lot easier if I was a Lucario right now. I thought.

I managed to land another Force palm on him when I remembered that my avatar evolves when it had a high enough friendship status with someone.

Easier said than done.

"Michael, watch out!" Sarah yelled when I suddenly got smacked hard on the side, sending me into the wall.

"Michael!" I heard Kirito yell as I watched him and the others jump in the battle.

"Ouch...that hurt." I moaned, holding my shoulder.

"Uh...I could use some help over here!" David said, dodging a Hammer arm.

"Hang on, I gotcha!" David yelled and smacked Slaking with a move I've never seen before.

Must be a custom move he made. I thought as I tried to stand up, but I stumbled.

The boss glared at me and charged towards me with incredible speed, preparing his Hammer arm.

"Oh crud...I've gotta move." I said and tried to jump to the side, but my legs wouldn't obey.

I checked my Hp and realized that I was paralyzed. How did that happen?

"Michael, get out of there!" Canilive yelled.

"I can't move!" I said. "Whatever Slaking did, it paralyzed me!"

Just as Slaking was about to finish me, I was suddenly tackled just as the fist hit the ground.

What the...

"Are you ever going to stop putting yourself in danger?" A familiar voice demanded. I looked up and saw Sarah with tears in her eyes.

I looked away. "I'm sorry."

It looked like she was trying her best to be angry with me. "Michael...why? Why would you put yourself in danger all the time?"

I sighed. "Because. I don't want to lose you or the others the same way I lost Sam. Or Avery."

She gasped, then shook her head. "Michael...I-"

"I could use some help over here!" Nahliel said, tying to evade Slaking's attacks.

She glared at Slaking, then leaned me against the wall, handing me a potion. "Here, take this. I'll help the others." She said. "Just don't do anything that'll get you killed."

Just as she was about to jump into the battle, she glanced back to me. "I care about you too, you know." She said and leapt towards the fight.

I stared at the battle, taking the potion so that my Hp was good enough to get back in there...but I was still paralyzed.

Then I remembered that when you level up, your Hp and status conditions become normal...so all I have to do is level up. I took a look at my Exp gauge and saw that it was already close to level seventeen.

All I have to do is take out one more Npc. I thought and looked around the room, noticing one Vigoroth minion spawning right behind Asuna.

"Asuna, watch out!" I yelled and used all the strength I could muster to throw another Focus blast at him, immediately taking him out.

I watched as the Exp meter completely filled up, leveling me up to level seventeen and restoring my health.

Just as I stood up, I saw that Sarah was already in huge trouble, taking multiple hits from Slaking.

I didn't even think about the consequences as I jumped in the way, blocking the Hammer arm with Force palm.

"Michael? How..." Sarah asked, completely surprised.

"I know you told me not to do anything stupid, but I can't sit in the sidelines and watch as someone I care about dies." I said. "Especially you."

As soon as I said that, my body started glowing, and before I knew it; I started getting taller.

I'm evolving! I thought and knocked the fist away when the light dispersed, revealing myself as a newly evolved Lucario.

I grinned and glared at the boss.

"Let's end this, everyone!" I told them.

"Right!" They all said in unison, using their best move against Slaking.

I quickly scrolled through my attacks menu and replaced Endure with Aura's blade when Sarah walked up beside me.

"You ready?" She asked.

I nodded and formed two swords in my hands. To my surprise, they almost looked like Zelda's master sword.

"Let's end this!" I said and leapt towards the boss, slashing him like crazy with my new attack.

Thankfully, my attacks are dealing way more damage now than they did when I was a Riolu.

"Alright, Michael!" Kirito said as he blasted Slaking with Dark pulse. "That's what I call dual wielding."

I smiled. "You gonna help me beat this sucker or what?"

"Heck yeah we will!" Laochra said and blasted Slaking. "Sleep on this!"

Time to tip the scales. I thought as we all ganged up on the boss, giving it all we've got.

As soon as I saw that Slaking's Hp was close to zero, I glanced over to Sarah.

"Now's your time, Sarah." I told her. "Finish him off!"

She nodded and leapt towards the boss, smacking him hard in the chest with Force palm, taking it out.

As soon as Slaking became nothing but cubes, almost every one is us leveled up, and only a few of them evolved.

"Yes! I'm a Charmeleon!" Laochra said.

"Aw yeah..." Zack said, flying around in his new form. "I can't wait to try Flame charge."

Nahliel only grinned and nodded. "Just a few more levels, and I'll be able to really kick some butt."

Jason laughed as he threw his extra scalchop in his hands. "You got that right, combustion man."

Sarah only clenched her hands as I walked up to her.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She looked at me in confusion. "How did I evolve so early?"

"Because you had a high friendship with someone in the team." Asuna said, walking up to us in her new Braixen form.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah demanded.

"Riolu evolves into Lucario once it enjoys it's trainer." I explained and chuckled. "That is...in the original games."

She looked at Asina in confusion. "So...I have high enough friendship with..."

"Michael." Asuna finished for her. "Don't you get it? The way you two have gotten along so well...it brings me back to when I fell in love with Kirito."

Sarah blushed as she looked at me and giggled. "I guess...I guess that makes sense." She said and took my hand.

I smiled. "Like I said before; I'm not letting anything happen to you. We stick together to the very end."

She nodded. "And I promise...we'll make it back home...together." She said and kissed me.

As soon as she did that...I thought I could already feel my cheeks warming up like crazy.

"Well...we're one step closer to home." Kirito said. "Let's head back to the city and figure out how this pet thing works."

"I agree." Canilive said. "Then we try to figure out how to advance to the next zone."

As the others pass me and Sarah, Miles quickly leaned over to my ear with his new form. "Keep it up, Michael."

I scoffed. "Thanks, Miles. Now get over there before I blast ya."

He laughed. "You got it." He said and took off.

Sarah and I laughed as we started following the others, leaving behind another dungeon cleared.

"We have to thank you, sir." A blue Pawniard told me, gesturing to his other friends. "I'm not sure we would've made it without your guild's help."

"I'm just here to help." I said. "If you ever need anything, just message me, and I'll be on my way over."

He nodded and looked away. "You know...your guild has given us hope. I'm sure there are other players out there that need it. Others think that this game is impossible."

Impossible? There's no way. I thought. My guild and I are going to show Suguho that we'll beat this game, whether he likes it or not.

* * *

(Meanwhile)

"Impossible..." A voice grumbled, making the Pawniards tremble. "How? How could that...band of misfits beat something as powerful as Slaking?"

One of them looked away, too afraid to explain to their master.

"Well, for starters...you'll have to slowly take out some of the guardian's members." A new voice said as a Weavile came out of the shadows, followed by a scarred Sneasel.

"Ah...Lewis, Kevin. So nice of you to come." The first voice said. "In your opinion...what should I do to single them out?"

"Take out the leader." Kevin said. "You kill him, the entire team with fall apart."

"Hmmm...I like it." The voice said. "Very well, I'll leave you to deal with them. Just...don't fail me."

"I assure you, Suguho, I won't let Michael get away with this." Lewis said and walked off with a few Pawniards and Sableye.

"Good luck, you'll need it." Suguho said and turned back to his monitor. "Just you wait, boy...I'll make you wish you were a red."

**Oh...crud. Someone's havin a bad day. **

**Whelp, the good news is: almost every OC is fully evolved. The bad news: I'm back on block, and I don't know if this chapter was okay or not. **

**Oh yeah...those of you who have a 3ds...Smash bros is out! Finally! I know I shouldve said it like two days ago...but since I've been stuck for a while...yeah. **

**If if any of you guys want to take me on...I'm game. **


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey, what's up guys? Here's chapter twelve. im sure this one will be good this time. Enjoy. **

Chapter 12

"Okay...let's see how this thing works." I said as we came across a Rattata Npc. I wasn't going to keep it if I succeeded, I just want to see how this pet thing works. Besides, this is my twelfth time trying to work this thing.

I activated my menu and looked at the tutorials of the event. "All I have to do is weaken the Npc to low health, then throw some sort of...white orb at it. Almost like throwing a Focus blast."

"Let's see it then." Miles said impatiently.

I grinned and faced the Rattata. To be honest, I'm still getting used to my avatar's height now that I've evolved.

Okay...here it goes. I thought and formed a Focus blast at the Rattata, landing a hit and already getting his Hp down to yellow.

It bared its fangs at me at charged with Hyper fang.

I easily jumped to the left and smacked him with Force Palm as he lunged. I knocked him down and got his Hp down further to red.

Perfect. I thought when a heads up option appeared in front of me, asking if I want to capture it.

Not like I would. I thought and hit decline, and the Rattata suddenly disappeared.

"I guess that when you decline, the Pokémon you're battling goes away." Kirito said.

I shrugged. "Well, at least I know how to work this." I told him.

He chuckled and looked over the hill, watching Asuna as she taught Sarah how to capture an Npc. "I was hoping this game would be like ALO. Boy was I wrong."

"ALO? Isn't that the Alfheim online game Asuna told me about?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Her father made the game...but after an incident...the company was shut down just like Kayaba's. They kept the game going, and I put Aincrad in there."

"Aincrad's back? Why?" I asked.

"I just...I guess I still had the love of gaming. Especially with the friends I made while surviving SAO." He said. "You know...you could join us if you want."

I smiled. "Thanks, but...after this I might be done with nerve gear. For good."

Kirito sighed, kicking the grass. "You know...not everything is on you."

I looked away. "Tell that to Sam."

"Michael...I know these past couple years have been hard on you with him gone, but...it doesn't mean you should lose faith in yourself. Look at what you've done so far. You made a larger team, and you've kept is alive for almost a month. Sam would be proud of you." He said. "Gotta have faith in what you can be."

I looked at him and grinned. "Thanks. I guess you're right. All this time, I've hated myself for SAO, I've never looked at the bright side of things."

He grinned and patted my back. "You'll make it back. And this time...you won't lose anyone like Sarah."

I nodded. "Thanks, Kirito. You've been a good friend. I'm grateful to have you and Asuna as a member of the team this time."

He chuckled. "Believe me, it would go a heck of a lot faster if Agil and Klein were here."

True. Those two were awesome fighters back in the day.

"Come on, let's grab the others and head back to Tranquility city." Kirito said as he patted my back with his new Zoroark avatar.

"Yeah. We need to plan our next move." I said as we walked over to the group.

Kirito's right though, I can't give up on myself right now. Not with a team like this.

* * *

(Meanwhile, someplace else in the virtual world.)

"Come on, Sam, we've got to find a way out of here." Avery told him, pulling hard on the chain holding her down.

Sam grumbled. "It'd be easier if I was a Gallade, Avery. I can't do anything as a Kirlia."

She sighed angrily and tugged harder. "If only Michael were here."

"Michael thinks we're dead. He's probably found himself another girlfriend by now." Sam told her.

She shrugged. "I'd understand that if he did." She said and sat down. "I just...I can't bear being stuck in this death hole much longer."

Same here. Sam thought. "I'm surprised we've stayed alive this long. It's been four years."

She nodded. "Well, with the technology we have now...I'm not surprised."

Suddenly, the roof above them slid open, revealing a shadowy figure.

"Ah, good. You haven't broken free." He sneered.

Sam gritted his teeth. "Go away. We've got nothing to say to you."

As soon as he said that, his head felt like combusting. He leaned forward, holding my head as he yelled in pain.

"Enough, Lewis!" The figure said. "He's had enough."

"Are you sure? A brat like him has no respect anyway." A voice sneered.

"We need him alive! Now stop toying around and get back to work!" The figure ordered, turning to face Avery. "You should be grateful, you know. After all, I did save your lives."

"Yeah, only to keep us locked in here like guinea pigs." Avery snapped. "What are you wanting with us?"

As Sam sat up, he thought he heard laughter.

"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but you two are going to be the cause of Nightbright's death.

Nightbright? That's...that's Michael! Sam realized. "You're sending us to kill my brother!"

"Well, I actually want to be the one to kill him. You'll just lead him to us." The one named Lewis sneered.

"You think we're idiots?" Avery asked. "We'll be sure to avoid your thugs."

"Oh...I'm sure you will." The figure snarled and turned to face Lewis. "If you don't mind."

As if on cue, the giant doors slid shut above the prisoners.

"Michael's...in another game?" Sam asked.

"He's tough, Sam. We just...we just need to have faith." Avery said. "In the meantime, let's find a way to bust out of here."

* * *

(Back at Tranquillity city, at the Guardian's newly purchased base)

"Wow...I have to admit; Michael, this was a good choice." Nahliel said.

"You know, there could be better bases in the other zones." Asuna said.

"No, the game has it where if you buy a base here, it ends up in all the other zones." Kirito explained. "It'll just appear differently."

"Oh...ok. Never mind." Asuna said and giggled. "But Nahliel's right; this is a killer pad."

"This will actually gain us more allies." Canilive said. "That Pawniard we helped promised to help recruit more allies, that way we'll clear this game faster."

"We'll probably be a better guild than the Knights of the blood oath could." Laochra said.

I chuckled. "Yeah, maybe." I said and looked through my inventory. "Crud...after buying this, I'm almost broke."

"It was worth it, Michael." Sarah giggled and clenched her fist. "Let's do our best to clear the game."

"You said it." David said. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to go train for a bit. I call dibs on the big dummy."

"Not if I get there first, you don't." Blaze said and dashed past him.

Axel chuckled. "Ah...David and his challenges."

"I guess that's something I'll easily get used to." I said. "I was the same way once."

Sarah took my hand. "Come on, I've got to show you something." She said and led me up the stairs.

I was just about to wonder what she wanted to show me when we got to a large balcony, overlooking the city and an awesome looking sunset.

"Wow...that's incredible." I said as we sat down on the chair.

Sarah giggled. "You like it? It's the perfect place to watch the sunset."

I nodded. "You said it." I told her when a small dust cloud erupted next to us. We looked over the banister to see Blaze and David battling each other.

"Should've seen that coming." I muttered, making Sarah laugh as she rested her head in my shoulder.

"We've made it this far." She said.

I nodded. "Yeah, we did. I have you guys to thank for that too."

"You know, you've changed; Michael." She said. "When I first met you, you were the shyest person I've ever met. Then when all heck broke loose, you stepped up and gave this thing everything you've got to clear it."

I chuckled. "Yeah...I guess I did. I think we all have."

She smiled. "With you leading us...I'm sure as heck we'll make back home."

I looked at her and grinned. "You bet I will. And when I do, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

She nodded, and before I knew it, she fell asleep on my shoulder.

I chuckled. I guess this team could get a bit bigger. I just hope I keep everyone alive.

**Holy cow...major plot twist. Sam and Avery are alive! This...I'd imagine how Michael would feel when he realizes that his dead brother comes up alive. **


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey, what's up guys? Here's chapter 13 to pokemon online. This one was pretty fun to do, so I'm sure you'll enjoy it. **

Chapter 13

A couple months have passed, and our guild hasn't grown as much as we'd hoped. Between the Laughing coffin, Suguho's team, and the other green players out there, I find myself a little disappointed.

The only players we were able to recruit were Olivia, a Staravia who happens to know David. The blue Pawniard from before (He goes by Leo, but some guys like to call him "Leonardo" after the ninja turtle).

And then we have Ryota, a Mudkip who's got some serious hatred for Kayaba and Suguho.

I just hope he can channel that anger at the right time. We can't have him die on us.

"Man...we've got to find an easier way to recruit people." Kirito grumbled.

"Hey, at least another boss was beaten." I said. "We know we're progressing."

"Yeah, but we could clear the game in less than a year if we had more help. That Ursaring was hard." He complained. "I miss my swords."

I chuckled. Ever since some of us completely evolved into our final forms, we've decided to stick to our Sword art online ways of attacks and skills (which is kind of hard for Sarah, since she's never played the game). Players like Laochra and Jason are totally hard to beat with their stats, though.

"If I'm correct, there's only one more boss to unlock the next zone." Canilive said. "Then there's the zone boss."

I grumbled. After we beat Ursaring, we learned that before we can leave the zone, we have to fight a super powerful boss.

And the bad part is that it's rumored to be a legendary.

"I just hope it's not Arceus." Laochra muttered. "That wouldn't go well."

I scoffed. "Heck no! I'd rather take my chances with Suguho than mess with that sucker."

"True that." Kirito said, laughing when a message icon appeared in front of me.

I opened the message, looking over it curiously.

"What is it?" Canilive asked.

My heart dropped as soon as he asked. "It's Trevor. He's in trouble."

* * *

"Man...I'm so glad you made it." Trevor said as we walked up.

"What happened? Where's the rest of the team?" Zack asked.

He shook his head. "I hate to say it...but they're gone. Laughing coffin wiped them out. I...I didn't know it happened until yesterday."

"I'm sorry." I said. "Where were they headed?"

"Someone said that they've found the last boss. I don't know who it was, but whoever did it didn't bother to ask anyone else to help." He grumbled and smacked a tree. "Those numbskulls wouldn't listen to me!"

"Easy, Trevor." I told him. "Now's not the time to lose it. I've dealt with this kind of thing before, so I know how you feel."

He sighed. "Right...sorry."

"Do you know where Laughing coffin went?" Kirito asked.

Trevor nodded and pointed towards the dungeon entrance. "The suckers must be using it as a base or something."

"Okay, we'll go in and check it out." I told him when he grabbed my shoulder.

"There's no way you're leaving me here. They killed my friends, so I'm not leaving until I get some justice." He said.

I looked away. Maybe bringing him along wouldn't be so bad. And it's true, it would make him feel better to avenge his dead friends.

"Okay, just stay close." I told him as I sent a party invite.

He accepted. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Something sounded off. "No problem. I'm happy to help."

He nodded and walked towards the dungeon entrance.

"You saw that, right?" Sarah asked. "There's something going on."

I nodded. "Just be careful. Something tells me this isn't going to look good."

She nodded. "Okay, but just be sure to do the same."

I smiled. "Sure."

* * *

"Man, it's dark in here." Blaze grumbled.

I grinned and activated my menu, sending out an Umbreon I captured not too long ago.

As soon as it appeared, the small circle on his forehead started glowing, lighting the way.

"Good thing you got those eight Eevees." Laochra said.

"Thanks. Evolving them were a pain, but it was worth it." I told him.

"And you think evolving our avatars were easy?" Nahliel asked.

I laughed. "Heck no. I couldn't wait to be a Lucario. I'm glad I evolved when I did."

Everyone laughed except Trevor, who was glaring at three Pawniard.

"We've got company!" He said and charged towards them, smacking one hard in the face with Focus punch.

"That idiot's going to get himself killed!" Canilive said as he ran towards the fight. "Come on!"

I nodded and dashed towards the second Pawniard with Aura's blade, taking him out as Sarah took out the last.

"What were you thinking?!" Canilive demanded. "Do you have some kind of death wish?"

"They were Laughing coffin." Trevor shot back. "It's us or them."

"Yeah...but you have to think things through." I told him. "Just charging in will only get you killed."

"I'm not going to just stand around, waiting for the reds to take over!" He hollered. "We need to act now, or else we'll-"

Suddenly, the wall blew apart, revealing a group of dark type avatars, and none other than Howlett himself.

"Oh...crud." Kirito grumbled. "It's a trap."

"Well, well...long time no see." Howlett sneered. "You're not dead, how surprising."

I gritted my teeth. "I should say the same." I told him.

He chuckled. "You might've gotten lucky during that fight with the cat, but you're not going to last long today." He said. "You're companion made sure of that."

Suddenly, I felt a strong jolt of electricity course through my body, paralyzing me and the others.

"What the...what happened?" Asuna asked.

"It's a paralysis trap." Trevor said as he walked beside Howlett. "Thought it might come in handy for something like this."

"You're...you're one of them?" Zack demanded. "After everything you've fought so hard for...you chose them?"

Trevor laughed. "Please, fighting to return to the real world is a lost cause. You should know that by now."

"I would say the same for you." Howlett said and slashed Trevor's back with a powerful Shadow claw, dropping his Hp down to zero immediately.

"Trevor!" Zack and Emm yelled as they watched their friend derezz.

"Ah...I love being me." Howlett said, oping the cues off his claws.

I glared at him. "I'll kill you!" I snarled.

He snickered. "I'd like to see that happen...if you survive."

"Survive what?" Kirito demanded.

Howlett grinned. "Your new friend." He said as the large grey doors opened behind him, revealing a big purple Pokémon with holes across his body. It was an Exploud!

He's going to kill us with a boss. I thought. That coward.

"Well, we'll see you later." Howlett said as he and his goons took off.

I tried standing up, but the paralysis was way too strong. And it lowered my Hp every time I tried to move.

"Don't move, I've got something that'll help." Canilive said as he took an orb from his bag and smashed it, and before I knew it, the paralysis was gone.

"What was that?" Kirito asked as we got up.

"A healing orb. It's like a Full restore." He said and grumbled. "And...that was my last one."

"No time for chit-chat!" Ryota yelled and pointed at the boss. "Look out!"

I quickly wheeled around just in time to see a giant fist come towards me, but Amber jumped in the way and used her Protect.

"You okay?" She asked.

I nodded. "Thanks. Let's get out of here."

"Good plan...but if we want to clear the game, we need to fight the boss." Canilive said.

"We'll deal with Howlett later." Sarah said as Aura's blade formed in her hand.

I nodded. "Right. Let's beat this sucker!"

"Loud and clear, boss." Olivia said as she smacked into Exploud's side with Aerial ace.

I formed Aura's blade in both hands and slashed the boss across the chest numerous times before he smacked me in the face, hurtling me into the wall.

Thanks to my stats, I didn't take a whole lot of damage.

"Time to burn, sucker!" Laochra yelled as he blasted Exploud with Flamethrower, dealing lots of damage as Raiden and Sarah started attacking it with Aura's blade.

"Man. For a boss, this NPC's pretty wimpy." Kirito said.

"Don't get cocky." I said and hurled an Aura sphere at Exploud's face, slightly dazing him.

Unfortunately, it also enraged it. He swatted Sarah and Raiden away and prepped his Focus punch, aiming for the Gallade.

"Watch out!" I yelled and used Hi jump kick to knock it off its course and smacking him with Force palm.

"Thanks, Mike." Raiden said and slashed Exploud's leg with Leaf blade, only to get kicked to the side.

So much for a wimpy boss. I thought right when I got smacked across the face, knocking me into the wall.

"Michael!" I heard Sarah yell as I got up.

Dang! That's enough to break something. I thought as I winced.

"Michael...watch out!" Nahliel shouted.

I looked up just in time to see Exploud charging towards me with his arm raised.

I braced just as he threw his arm towards me, but then notice a shadow loom over me as the boss struck Zack instead, throwing him across the room.

"Zack! No!" I yelled in horror, watching as his health almost drop to zero.

"I've got him!" Emm said. "You take care of Exploud."

I nodded and jumped back into the battle, hurling another Aura sphere at the boss as he tried to smack Olivia with another Focus punch.

"Now, Sarah!" I said.

She nodded and fired her Flash cannon straight into Exploud's big mouth, knocking him only an inch away.

He quickly got up and started howling with a deafening noise. That was when I realized it was Uproar.

I took a quick glance at the guild's Hp, watching as they slowly drop.

"Michael...I might have to do something you won't like!" Canilive yelled.

I shook my head. "You won't have to. He's almost toast." I said and dashed towards the boss with Aura's blade, slashing him across the chest numerous times.

"Man, I love this guy." David said and slammed into Exploud's face with Flame wheel, knocking it off its feet.

"Time to finish this!" I said and jumped straight into the air, prepping a new move I learned when I suddenly got smacked to the side.

"Not this time!" I heard Howlett sneer, slashing me across the face with Shadow claw.

"And you think I'm a coward." He said and raised his claw for another attack, ready to finish me off.

I knew better. I quickly formed a small Aura sphere and threw it at him, dazing him enough to back back on my feet and round house kick him in the face, knocking him down.

"At least I don't leave players to die." I said and ran to help the others with Exploud, who barely has any Hp left.

"Talk about defense." Laochra grumbled. "This guy's hard!"

"He's almost dead." I said. "Let's finish him off!"

Sarah and Kirito nodded and prepped their attacks, throwing them at the boss.

"Go, Michael!" Nahliel said.

I quickly leapt up in the air, kicking it square in the nose with Hi jump kick and forming an Aura sphere and throwing it in the mouth, finishing him off.

I sighed and fell on my knees as the item drop icon appeared in front of me.

There was an item called "Rogue's mark", and for all I know, it looks like a cloak.

"Man...that was close." Kirito panted.

"You're telling me. That boss was tough." Miles grumbled.

"How's Zack?" Sarah asked.

I almost forgot about him. I ran over to Emm and her injured twin.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He's okay. I gave him some berries to help him recover." She said.

"That was a risky move he made back there." Canilive told her.

"Hey, in a game, there's lots of risks that are made." I said and turned to where Trevor once stood. "The biggest risk we took was following him here."

"I...why would he do that?" Emm asked angrily.

"Did he kill the others in his guild?" Raiden asked.

Emm shook her head. "How should I know? He could've been lying for-"

Suddenly, another message icon appeared in front of me. I pressed it and one of those recorder cubes spawned above my palm.

Who sent this? I wondered as I tapped the button on the cube.

"This is for anyone who's nearby this dungeon!" An unfamiliar voice said frantically.

"Hey, that's Peter!" Zack said.

"Peter?" Kirito asked.

"Peter was Trevor's close friend." Emm explained. "He was usually a solo player though."

"I'm surprised he called for help." Zack muttered.

I looked at him in confusion as the recording went on.

"Dungeons are almost impossible to clear now. I don't know what's going on, but this Suguho guy must be really insane. He's raising the difficulties on the bosses and the dungeons every time another is beaten. That's why green players aren't able to make it through while reds are leaving battles with full health."

"There aren't a lot of greens left. Most are either dead, or one of Howlett's goons. I'm not letting that happen to the rest of our team. Don't trust Trevor. Whatever happened during the Persian battle...changed him. We tried reasoning with him, but he just won't listen."

"If you're the first to find this message, and you're a green player or one of the Guardians, please...we need help. As far as we know, they're probably taking us to a base in this zone."

"Peter...we've got to help them." Emm said.

I nodded. "And we will. Do you two have Peter on your friends list?"

Emm nodded and flipped open her menu, scrolling through the names on her list.

"Found it! Let's see where they went." She said and activated her map, pointing to a small beacon nearby Tranquility city.

"Okay, let's head over there and help them." I said. "Then we fight the zone boss."

**dang...quite a chapter. **

**You guessed it though, certain characters have completely evolved except for Axel, Canilive, David, and a few others. (I'll check to see if the owners of these Oc's want their characters to evolve). But be sure to give David's owner credit for Olivia the Staravia, and the owner for Ryota the Mudkip. **

**But yeah...wow! Trevor betrayed the team, and Howlett's getting as restless as ever. Whatever's going on...ou heroes are in a jam Big time. **

**I think that after this chapter, I might start switching around certain characters POV's to try and make it more interesting. I'll think about it. **


	15. Chapter 14

**hey, what's up guys? Here's chapter 14, another favorite one of mine. It's shorter than the last, but I'm sure it'll be will be worth it. **

Chapter 14

(Sam)

"Come on...there's got to be something!" Avery yelled, tugging her chain.

I sighed when I heard a noise. It sounded like another cell was closed. "Did you hear that?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. There's something going on." She said and tapped her wall. "It sounded like it came from the other side of this."

As if on cue, there was a tapping sound coming from the other side.

"Hopefully they know morse code." I said. "You know it by any chance?"

Avery nodded. "Yeah. My dad taught it to me." She said and tapped a pattern on the wall. After a few seconds, there was a reply.

"What does it say?" I asked.

She motioned for me to wait as she listened to the tapping.

"Kidnapped by Laughing coffin. Betrayed by guild leader. Message left for remaining green players?" She wondered.

"Remaining green players? They're getting wiped out?" I asked.

"Sounds like it. But if this guild in here left a message, someone's bound to find us." She said.

"Then they'd better prepare themselves." I said. "Cuz we're busting out."

(Michael)

"You sure this is it?" I asked Emm.

She nodded. "The map leads us here."

"Then why don't we see an entrance?" Nahliel asked.

I rubbed my chin. "Nahliel, use that custom move of yours on the ground."

"Why? What's your plan?" He asked.

"I have an idea. Just try it." I told him.

He nodded and used the move he called Fire wave, firing a fiery beam at the ground. In a matter of seconds, part of the ground rippled, revealing a set of stairs. Just above the entrance was the mark of the Laughing coffin.

We found their base. I thought.

"A hidden door." Nahliel chuckled and patted my back. "Good call."

I grinned. "Okay everyone, let's stay on our guard. We have the element of surprise."

As we walked into the base, I noticed that it looked more like a lab. But for what?

"I suggest we split up." Raiden whispered. "Teams of three would work."

"Sounds good. Sarah, you lead one of them. Kirito, you lead the other. If you find the guild, message me and meet us here." I told them.

They both nodded and led a small group two different directions while I led Canilive, David, Nahliel, Laochra, Raiden, Amber and Steven down another hallway.

"What do you think we'll find." Blaze asked.

"Probably some goons. But if we're lucky. We might find one of those maintenance cubes Kirito ran into once." I said. "Then everyone will be saved."

"Yeah. That would be nice." Laochra muttered and looked over at one of the consoles. "Michael...look."

I glanced at the two screens and realized that they had a footage on Trevor's guild, along with two Kirlias.

"Who are those two?" Nahliel asked.

"I don't know, but I think we'll be able to get them out from here." I said and walked over to the console, looking for a switch that releases their chains.

"Let me work the controls." Canilive said. "Usually the directors usually leave a failsafe."

I nodded. "Okay. Work your magic."

He grinned and started typing in a series of commands into the console, and in less than a second, the chains on the prisoners disappeared.

"I'll open the door...and they're free." Canilive said.

I leaned over the microphone. "Attention! This is Michael of the Guardian's of light. You've been Suguho's prisoners for far too long. It's time to fight back, players." I said and turned to Laochra, who had a big grin on his face.

"Now this is where the fun begins." He said.

(Sam)

"Attention! This is Michael of the Guardians of light. You've been Suguho's prisoners for far too long. It's time to fight back, players." The voice said through the speakers as everyone climbed out the cells.

Wait...did I just hear that right? I thought. Michael's...here?

"Come on!" Avery said. "If we're going to fight back, we need to evolve!"

"I'd have to agree with you there." A voice said behind me. I wheeled around to see a Lucario player, followed by a Grovyle, a Staravia, and other avatars.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

The Lucario smiled. "My names Sarah. I'm with the Guardians. Let's get you some gear and get the heck out of here!"

"I knew you would come get us!" A Machop cheered.

"Anytime. Now let's go!" The Grovyle said impatiently. "It's only a matter of time before-"

Suddenly, someone let out a scream as Sneasel and Pawniards started charging in.

The Grovyle sighed. "Yeah...that."

"Let's just fight them. Here and now." Avery said.

"Are you out of your mind?" A Mudkip asked. "We don't know what these punks are capable of."

"Listen you! Sam and I have been stuck in this place for two long years, way before this stupid game was released. I'm not letting them get away with that." Avery growled and smacked a nearby Pawniards in the face without even looking at him. "And plus, I can handle situations like this."

The Lucario just stared at us. "Wait...you're-"

"No time! Duck!" The Zoroark yelled and knocked us down as a Dark pulse flew over our heads.

"Okay, if we're done showing gratitude towards each other, let's get the heck out of here before we end up getting killed!" The Mudkip said angrily. "Sarah, contact your boyfriend."

"I'll lead the team, thank you!" She shot back as she threw an Aura sphere at a Pawniard. "Let's go!"

Me and Avery nodded and followed them towards what I assumed was the exit.

"I told Michael that we're good." Sarah announced. "Hopefully he'll meet us there."

"Wait, you know Michael?" Avery asked.

"Yeah. He's my boyfriend." Sarah replied and looked at her in confusion. "You know him?"

Avery just stared at her in shock. "Yeah...he was our leader."

Sarah gave her a confused look, then gasped. "You're...Sam and Avery?"

I nodded. "Where is he?" I demanded.

"He-he went a different direction." She said. "Oh my gosh...he said you died."

"Well, surprise. We're not." Avery laughed.

"Let's just hope Michael doesn't end up dead himself." I said.

(Michael)

"Come on, we should leave." Canilive said, taking lots of items and storing them in his bag. "We've done enough damage."

I nodded. "Right. Let's leave before Howlett or Lewis find out where we-"

"Well, well. I never thought I'd ever get a chance to meet you." A voice said coldly as I suddenly got blasted into the wall.

Walls. Why is it always walls? I thought as I noticed a tall figure walking towards me. That was when I realized that the form was a Mewtwo.

"Nightbright, is it?" He asked. "Or should I say...Michael."

"You know me?" I asked.

"How could I not? You're interfering with my plan...and I don't seem to appreciate that." He said.

That was when I realized that I was face to face with the director himself. "Suguho..." I growled.

He chuckled. "What a nitwit. You really think that you can clear the game this time? You're as lame as that Kirito."

I suddenly felt a surge of rage as I got up and attacked him with Force palm, but he dodged it with impossible speed and smacked my face back into the wall, attempting to crush it.

"Michael!" I heard Laochra, Raiden and Canilive yell in unison. I managed to get a good look at them, realizing that they were paralyzed.

"You see, I'm not like that pathetic weakling Kayaba." Suguho snarled, pushing harder. "He actually wanted to help you useless players save yourselves from Aincrad. I'm not that kind of man. In my world, it's survival of the fittest. People like you will die, while others like Lewis and Howlett deserve to survive."

"Not as long as I'm alive!" I said and used the same trick I used on Exploud with Aura sphere, distracting him enough to slash him with Aura's blade.

It didn't do a thing. The only thing it did do was make an "Immortal object" icon appear in front of him.

He stared at me with hatred. "You won't SURVIVE!" He yelled and smacked me in the face with Mega punch, dealing lots of damage on my Hp.

"DIE!" He yelled and attempted to strike me again when a forcefield appeared over me, blocking the attack and knocking the director away.

"What in the...who dares-" he yelled when he got punched in the face by Steven.

"Oh shut up!" He said.

I immediately fell on my knees and collapsed, hearing the shouts of Sarah and my other friends.

But what struck me as odd was that two of the voices sounded familiar.

"Come on!" Let's get him out of here!" I heard Kirito tell them as I felt as if I was lifted up by the arms.

"Who's the Mewtwo?" Ryota wondered.

"He's the director. Let's get out of here before he realizes we left." A young voice said.

That was the last thing I heard before losing consciousness.

"Michael...Michael!" I heard Sarah yell as I slowly opened my eyes, noticing everyone crowding around me.

"You okay?" Miles asked.

I rubbed my head as the helped me sit up. "What happened?"

"You were so close to death there, man." David said with a sigh. "When you started glowing, Canilive used one of the revives he stole from Suguho."

I nodded and patted the Sceptile. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"Hey, I'm just glad you're not dead." He chuckled.

"Come on, let's get you on your feet." Sarah said as she and Amber helped me up. "There's someone you've got to meet."

Once the two got me back on my feet, I noticed the new Gallade and Gardevoir staring at me, as if they've seen a ghost.

"Who...who are they?" I asked.

The Gallade stepped forward, getting misty eyed. "M-Michael...you have no idea...how long I've waited to see you again."

I gasped, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. "S-Sam? Is...is that you?"

He laughed. "You bet."

I slowly stepped forward, staring at my long lost brother, who I thought was dead all this time.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I just grabbed my younger brother and tackled him with the strongest bear hug I could ever give him.

"Ouch! Uh...your chest horn's poking me." He said, but started laughing as I let go. "I missed you so much."

I chuckled. "You have no idea." I told him and turned to the Gardevoir. "Avery?"

She smiled and nodded. "Hey there, handsome." She said and hugged me tightly.

"Where'd you find them?" I heard Kirito ask.

"They were one of the prisoners." Sarah explained.

"So...all these years they were stuck in this game?" Nahliel asked.

Avery nodded. "I don't really know how, or why, but I won't that that sicko get away with this."

"Amen, sister!" Miles said.

I nodded and turned to Avery. "Avery, I'm sorry. I...I couldn't...what happened during the boss-"

"I know. What happened with that Reaper...it did a lot on you." She said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "But thanks to your girlfriend, you're your old self."

"Oh...Avery, I-"

"No, it's fine. You thought I was dead all this time, so...you two deserve each other. I don't have anything against her."

I smiled. "Thanks."

She nodded as Canilive tapped my shoulder.

"We should get back to the base." He said. "There's something we need to talk about."

I nodded. "Right. Let's get out of here before the Laughing coffin find us."

"Yeah, but what should we do with the other green players?" Amber asked. "For all we know, they're in as much danger as us."

I thought about that. "Our base can be a safe house for them. Canilive hacked it so that no red players can enter."

"Smart guy." Avery said.

"Let's get going." Sam said. "I think it'd be good to meet the rest of the team, too."

**woohoo! Michael reunited with Sam and Avery. And Avery accepts the fact that Sarah's his new girlfriend. **

**But Suguho...he's a Mewtwo, and dang he's powerful! He's going to be hard to defeat. This is going to be fun. **

**note: there will be an update on the OC Invite. I totally forgot about the pet thing after all these weeks of catching up. It'll be up soon. **

**And also, the Pov chapters will vary, depending on the situation. **


	16. Chapter 15

**Hello, hello, hello. Here's chapter 15 to Pokémon online. This was pretty fun to work on, so I hope you enjoy. **

Chapter 15

"Hold on, what?!" Avery asked as we walked back to the base. "You're own teacher's a red player?"

"He was a teacher until he punched me in the face." I muttered. "Now he's blaming the whole thing on me."

"Man, I guess things really did get bad." Sam said. "How's...Mom and Dad?"

I sighed. "They...they've been trying to help me ever since SAO crashed. What happened to you did a lot."

"I don't get it, if we're still alive, shouldn't our body's still be on the hospitals?" Avery asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, but when I woke up, the doctors told me that Sam's disappeared." I explained. "I don't know about you, but I think there's more to Suguho than we think."

"You're right." Canilive said. "You won't believe the stuff I've found in that mainframe."

* * *

"Okay, so here's what I've got." Canilive said once we arrived, tapping the small drive on his hand to pull up what he saved and turned to the rescued players. "Apparently, some of you that were killed in SAO, you were actually transported here by Suguho."

"Why?" Sam asked. "What's this guy trying to prove?"

"I'm not exactly sure myself, but what I do know is that someone took you from the hospitals. I'm not sure where they would take you, and my hunch tells me it isn't good."

I nodded. "That means we'll need to bust out of here now."

"Right. That's why it's a good thing I found the location of the maintenance cube." Canilive said. "And thankfully, we don't have to go far."

"Great, where do we go?" Asked an Eevee with a British accent.

"We only need to get to the Electric zone. That's where we'll find the cube." He explained and placed the drive into his inventory. "And with all the stuff I got from Laughing coffin's hideout, we should be able to get there in no time."

"Good plan, but we'll have to get our level yo at least a hundred." Laochra said. "We're all at least level forty or fifty."

Canilive grinned and threw a pack at him. "Take that. Each pack will gain you twenty more levels. I have enough to go around."

I chuckled. "Man, I'm glad you work with the cops. You must've been a huge hacker."

He nodded. "Yep. That's why I dived in here in the first place."

"Wait a minute, now that we're really on Suguho's bad side, wouldn't he do something with the zone boss?" Blaze asked.

As if on cue, the ground shook like crazy, knocking most of us off our feet.

"What the heck was that?!" Sam demanded.

Something's not right. I thought and dashed to the balcony with him and Sarah.

Once we got there, my heart plummeted. Standing in the middle of the city...was a Regigigas!

"That's the boss?" Sarah asked, staring at it.

I sighed. "Looks like it."

* * *

"We what?!" David shouted. "Are you crazy?!"

"Look, we're only going to bust out of here if we take down the boss. There's no other way." I said.

"Michael's right. If we want to leave, then we have to beat the boss." Canilive said.

"Great, now I know you're crazy." Miles muttered. "Sure, you're a fighting type and all, but Regigigas is a legendary."

I nodded. "I know. But I'll still fight. If anyone wants to stay here, that's fine. I won't hold anything against you."

Everyone started exchanging whispers until Jason stepped forward. "Count me in."

"I'm in, too." Nahliel said. "We've gotten this far because of you, Michael. So now it's time for us to pay you back."

I smiled. "Anyone else?"

It didn't take a minute for the rest of the team to volunteer, along with Avery, Sam, and the British Eevee.

"Okay, let's clear this zone!" I said. "And later, end this game!"

Everyone let out a loud "Hoorah!", and we took off towards Regigigas as it tossed an Npc out of the city.

"That thing's huge!" David said. "You sure we'll be able to deal anything on him?"

"Nope. But it's worth a try." I told him and threw an Aura sphere at the boss, striking it square in the face.

"That's our cue, boys." Canilive yelled. "Let's take this sucker!"

"You said it!" Blaze replied and fired his Fire blast at Regigigas's arm as Canilive, Sam and Axel flew around it, slashing it with Leaf blade.

Here we go! I thought, summoning Aura's blade as I struck Regigigas across the chest alongside Sarah, evading the boss's Mega punch to land an Aura sphere on it.

"We just have to keep attacking!" I said and turned to Sarah. "You ready?"

She nodded and glanced at the boss. "Watch out!" She yelled, pointing to it as it fired a Hyper beam.

"Hang on, I've got ya!" Laochra yelled as he shielded us both with...metal wings?

"What move is this?" Sarah wondered.

"Metal shield. I made it to restore health to anyone I protect." Laochra explained.

"And you couldn't have used it when we fought Exploud?!" I asked.

He shrugged. "What? That guy wasn't so hard."

"Easy for you to say." I muttered and threw another Aura sphere at the boss.

"We've already taken out its second health bar!" Ryota announced, spraying the boss with Mud bomb. "Keep it up!"

Suddenly, Regigigas started glowing red, and he released a powerful wave of energy, dealing damage to everybody.

"What the heck was that?!" David yelled.

"Whatever it was, it knocked me all the way down to red!" Blaze said.

I nodded. "Same here."

"Well, whatever it was, it just took a chunk out of its own Hp." Avery said, pointing at the boss's Hp gauge, which only had half a bar left. "Talk about a risky move."

"Then let's take out the rest!" I said. "Canilive, you got that item?"

He nodded and summoned a clear orb from his inventory, smashing it into the ground, raising everyone's Hp.

"What was that?" Sam wondered as the orb shards disappeared.

"An All-heal orb." Canilive said. "It's one of the items we found at the hideout."

"Good thing you had it when you did." Miles said. "Otherwise we'd be toast."

I turned to Nahliel. "You ready?"

He nodded and readied his Fire wave, blasting Regigigas square in the chest.

"Okay, he's dazed. Let's finish him!" I said, summoning Aura's blade as I slashed at it as everyone else used their custom made moves on it.

"Time for some Super soaker!" I heard Ryota yell as he shot a huge hey of water at the boss's face, staggering it.

"Time to tip the scales!" I said and turned to Sarah. "You ready to try it out?"

She nodded. "Let's do it!"

I grinned and started forming Aura sphere between my hands as Sarah did the same, combining our attacks to make it stronger.

"Now!" I yelled as we threw our combined attack at it. "Eat this, Suguho!"

The attack struck it square in the face, causing a massive explosion and depleting the last of its Hp. In an instant, the boss disintegrated into small codes.

I sighed. "It's done."

"The zone's clear!" Blaze yelled, and everyone started cheering happily as a "congratulations" icon appeared where Regigigas stood.

"We're not done yet." Canilive said.

"Oh come on, man." Ryota told him. "Loosen up a little. We just beat a zone boss."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying that this is only the beginning." He said when we heard a noise from the distance.

We look over to where the noise was coming from when the sky started shimmering. And before we know it, it disappeared, revealing a larger portion of the land.

"Hold on a minute...there aren't any zones." Miles said. "The normal zone was just the Tutorial."

We looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"What I'm saying is that we were at the gate the whole time. We just unlocked the whole game."

"If that's the case, then we need to end it now." I said. "Canilive said that the maintenance cube lies in the Electric zone, so we should start heading over there right away."

**Ho...man. Things just got more interesting. **

**So let me sum it up, players that were considered dead were somehow transported to Pokémon online. While that happens, their bodies in the real world are taken somewhere the police won't find them. **

**And now it's revealed that you don't have to beat zone bosses as you go. This is actually a totally open world game. This is going to be interesting. This Suguho guy is just full of lies.**

**oh, if you noticed the British Eevee character, that may be a new OC of mine. Ive thought about a second one for a while, but I had no idea what to do. There'll be an update about her. **


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey, what's up guys? Here's chapter 16. **

Chapter 16

(Michael)

"Great, and I thought clearing floors was hard. Now every zone will be filling up with ton of NPCs." I muttered, staring at a distant volcano.

"So...how far is the electric zone?" Amber asked.

Canilive flipped open his map, sighing as he saw the size. "Who knows? Could be at least a three month journey because of the stuff in the way."

I nodded. "Well, now that we pretty much unlocked the whole game, I'm sure there'll be tons of events to try." I said. "If we're going to have any chance of getting out, than we need to get stronger."

"The kids right. We were lucky to beat Regigigas." Ryota muttered.

"That wasn't luck." Sam told him. "That was my brother leading us to victory."

I laughed. "Spoken like a true warrior, buddy."

"There's got to be a lot more places to stop for information." Canilive said. "The more we know of these zones, the better."

"Then let's get moving." Avery said. "I want to go home and see my parents again."

I chuckled. "You heard her. Let's go."

(Avery)

Let me get one thing clear: I'm not a Gardevoir fan. I've played the original games before, and Gardevoir was the last Pokémon I'd ever catch.

But then of course, I didn't choose my avatar. That jerk Suguho did.

"At least I'm not a Magikarp." I muttered.

"What was that?" Michael wondered.

"Oh, nothing. Just...thinking." I said, noticing him holding Sarah's hand.

Don't let it bug you! I thought, quickly looking away. It's not like he had a choice in the matter.

"Woah...now this...is a forest." Blaze said.

"Just try not to burn anything down." Miles told him.

"Oh shut up!" The Charmander replied.

I couldn't help but smile. This group Michael built...it's more like a family.

"Man, we've been walking for a while now." Kirito sighed. "I doubt we'll make it to the next town tonight."

"Yeah, you're right." Michael said. "We'll camp here for the night. Avery and I will get some wood."

I nodded. "Okay, lead the way."

As we walked through the woods, Michael helped me learn to collect firewood just by tapping a tree to collect it.

"Good thing we can do it now." He said. "I hated those cold nights on SAO."

I giggled. "Yeah, you got cold way too easily."

He laughed. "Yep. Those were the good old days."

"Before all heck broke loose." I said quietly.

Michael nodded. "Yeah."

"So...Sarah seems like a nice girl." I told him, hoping to change the subject.

He nodded. "Yeah. She's great. Saved my life a few times."

"That's funny. When we were in SAO, I was the one that always needed saving." I said. "I mean, first I was saved by Nahliel, then you rescued me almost a thousand times."

He chuckled. "I guess it's karma." He said.

I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder. "Sarah's a great girl. I don't know her all that well, but I'm sure we'll get along. Just...promise me you'll protect her. I don't want you to go through the pain you did before."

He nodded. "I'll protect her. She..."

"She means everything to you." I finished for him.

He nodded. "What about you? I mean...I don't want to do anything to harm you."

"I'll be okay." I assured him. "To be honest, I've kinda gotten over it."

He smiled and opened his inventory. "Here, I don't want to mistake you as Amber, so I'll give you this scarf I found once. It'll help me know which Gardevoir's which."

"Believe me, it's not like I wanted to be one." I said and accepted the scarf, immediately equipping it.

He laughed. "Well, you look good anyways. But it'd be better if we can see each other as humans again." He said and clenched his fist. "I miss my old body."

"We'll get back." I told him. "And when we do, let's find a place where we can all hang out."

He nodded. "I'd like that." He said. "Come on, I'm sure Sarah will get suspicious if we're gone for too long."

(Michael)

Avery's right, maybe we could find a place where we can all chill and hang out.

Of course, it'd be a lot harder for Kirito and Asuna, since they live all the way in Japan.

"What took you guys?" Ryota demanded. "I'm freaking cold."

"Just some catching up." Avery said, tossing some of the firewood into a pit Axel made.

"I hope." Sarah told her.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try to steal him." Avery assured her, giggling. "You two are perfect for each other anyway."

Sarah smiled. "Well, I'd understand if he did go back with you."

"Look, he's already chosen who he wants to be with." Laochra said. "Now can someone light the fire, please? I'm freezing!"

"Wait a minute, don't you have any body heat?" Miles asked him. "You're a Charizard."

"Well apparently, it doesn't work." He grumbled.

I laughed as David blasted the wood with Flamethrower, making a decent sized fire.

"Well, that's hot." Laochra said and dipped his tail into the flame.

"Laochra! What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"What? Charizard's do this all the time." He said. "Plus, it might help get me back my body heat."

I face-palmed, laughing with everyone else as Laochra's tail flame got a bit bigger. Once he was happy with the size, Laochra pulled his tail out and roasted an Oran berry with it.

"Hey, it's a dragon oven." Shulk joked, playfully punching him in the side.

I smiled as I took a bite of my berry, recoiling from its extremely sour taste.

"Are you trying to torture yourself with that?" Kirito asked.

"Don't mind him. Ever since we were little, Michael's always eaten sour food." Sam said. "I'm surprised he eats it."

I coughed. "Hey, it might not look that way, but sour fruit and candy taste awesome." I said. "I just haven't had sour stuff in a while."

"Uh...that Oran soda?" Sarah asked.

"That doesn't count." I said. "I'm talking about those green apples and stuff."

"I know what you mean." The Eevee from before said.

"Hey, who are you?" Ryota demanded. "How'd you get here?"

"I've been here the whole time." She said, frowning. "I was lucky to even get a berry from Michael."

I smiled. "So what's your name?"

"Firestar." She said.

"Uh...that's more of a gamertag than a name." Axel muttered, only to have her glare at him.

"Look, I go by Firestar. Okay?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Hey, I'm okay with that. Besides, it's a cool name."

She smiled. "Thanks."

"Wait, you were one of the prisoners at the hideout!" Sarah said.

She nodded. "After the death game was revealed, I was the first to be kidnapped by those thugs you call the Laughing coffin."

"It's always those guys." Nahliel grumbled.

I nodded. "Don't worry, they won't get away with it, Firestar." I assured her.

She gave a small smile as Nahliel laid on his back.

"Let's get some rest." He sighed. "It's gonna be a while before we get to the next town."

I nodded. "Okay. I'll keep watch."

"You don't have to." Asuna said. "You get some sleep. Me and Kirito will watch over the camp."

"Thanks, guys." I said and laid back in the grass with Sarah resting her head on my shoulder, watching the virtual moon start to rise above the trees.

Pretty soon I won't be looking at that moon anymore. I'll be home, getting to look at the real moon.

That is of course, if I don't die first.

**alright then, meet Firestar. **

**I guess it's good that Michael got to talk to Avery after all those years, thinking she was dead. I'll work on him introduving the others, so don't worry, you'll get attention, I just forget sometimes with school and crud. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed. **


	18. Chapter 17

**YESSSSSS! They're really bringing back Mewtwo to SB4. Alright. **

**Whoops, my bad there. Kinda got too excited. Hope you enjoy. **

Chapter 17

The next morning, we woke up pretty early so that we could get to the next town as fast as possible.

"Come on, guys." Miles said. "We're pretty close."

"You said that five minutes ago." Laochra grumbled.

"Well, he's right this time." I said, looking over my map.

"Finally!" Sam sighed when the bushes beside us rustled.

"What was that?" Sarah asked, summoning her Aura's blade.

I started to form an Aura sphere when Three Shiftry jumped out, followed by a Servine.

"Well, look what we got here." He said. "You came to the wrong side of the forest, friend. This is our territory."

I stepped forward. "Really, well I don't really see anything that marks this place as yours." I told him. "Sorry, but we'll be going."

As we tried to get passed the four, the Shiftry suddenly blasted us back with a super strong gust of wind.

"Let me apologize." The Servine said. "You don't leave until we say you can. Not without a battle."

"You're challenging us?" Laochra scoffed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're pretty strong."

"Maybe, but that's what I want to see for myself." Servine said and pointed to me and Avery. "I'll take you two on, along with the Charizard and the Gallade with the scarf."

Sam and Laochra exchanged glances and nodded. "Bring it."

Our challenger chuckled. "Believe me, it's not the Shiftry that are battling you." He said when three different players walked from the bushes.

They were a Golduck with a ukulele, a Greninja, and a Scizor.

"What's with the guitar?" Nahliel asked.

The Golduck was pretty offended. "It's a ukulele."

"Okay, that's enough." I said and walked up to the Servine player. "Okay then. We win, we get to go this way."

"And what if you lose?" He asked.

"If I lose...you can have one of our pets." I said.

He shook his head. "Sorry, but no deal on that." He said and scratched his chin. "How'bout...if I win, we get to have...the Staravia."

"Heck no! She's with us!" David snapped, standing in front of Olivia protectively.

"Well, that's the deal." Servine persisted and looked at me. "How'bout it, sport?"

I thought about it and nodded. "Okay, but just to warn you: we don't go down easily."

He chuckled. "We'll see."

****

* * *

"Are you out of your mind?!" David demanded. "What if you lose?"

I smiled. "We won't. We actually have an advantage."

"How?" Avery asked.

"Well, their Scizor's a bug and steel type, so Laochra can just end him with Flamethrower. Along with that Servine." I explained and turned to Sam. "You know Leaf blade?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"Okay, so you'll have some advantages with Melody." I told him.

"Melody?" Sarah wondered. "That's the Golduck?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I caught a glimpse of her name when Servine and I agreed to the terms."

"Okay...so what about Greninja?" Steven asked.

"I'll take care of him." I said and turned to Avery. "You'll help Sam, okay?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Okay. Let's show these guys who we are." I said and walked towards the small group.

"You ready to lose?" Servine snickered.

I chuckled. "I'm afraid you're the ones that are going to lose."

"We'll see." He said, sending us invites to the battle. "And just so you know, this battle is to the death."

Me and Sam exchanged glances. I just reunited with him. There's no way I'm losing my brother again.

"You're not backing out now, are you?" The Greninja snickered.

I shook my head. "No, I just hoped it didn't have to be like this." I said as the four of us accepted the invitation.

"Whelp, life's full of challenges." Servine said when the "Battle begin" icon appeared above us.

"Take them!" Servine yelled as the Greninja and Scizor came towards us.

I managed to jump to the side and smack Greninja with Force palm, but he quickly spun around and slapped me across the face with his tongue (at least...that's what I think it is. I can never tell).

"Come on, punk. Show me what you got." I heard Scizor gloat as I watched him attack Sam, not even letting him get near the Servine.

"Speak for yourself!" Laochra yelled and blasted him with Flamethrower, hurtling his victim into a tree.

I almost laughed when an icon appeared, asking if he wanted to take some firewood.

Sadly, I was busy being strangled by Greninja's tongue.

I quickly formed an Aura sphere and slammed it into his face, roundhouse kicking him in the chest.

I took a look over to Melody, who was watching Servine beat the crud out of Avery.

"Hang on!" I said and used my Hi jump kick to knock Avery's attacker back.

He shook it off and glared at his third member. "Move it, you useless duck!"

"That's no way to treat a lady!" I said and punched him square in the face with Power-up punch.

I turned to the Golduck. "You have a choice, kid. You don't have to deal with these guys." I told her when a leaf blade emerged from my chest, dealing tons of damage.

"Finish him, Frank!" He told the Scizor.

"Michael, hang on!" Sam yelled, trying to push away Greninja. "I'm coming!"

"No! Stay back!" I told him and elbowed the Servine square in the face, dazing him enough to give me a chance to use him as a shield for Frank's Flash cannon.

"Boss!" Frank yelled as he watched his friend disintegrate into codes.

"Oh, so he was your boss." I said. "Didn't seem that way to me."

He snarled at me and smacked me upside the head with his metal claws, knocking me on my back.

My vision was a little fuzzy as he suddenly pinned me down by the neck, pressing down as hard he could.

"And you call yourself a leader." He snarled.

"Michael, catch!" Canilive said as he tossed me something small. It started glowing as it reached my palm, and I felt as if I was getting a little bit taller.

That was when I realized that I was Mega evolving. I kicked Frank square in the face and loosened myself from his grasp.

As soon as I was a good distance away, I slowly stood up and glared at the Scizor.

"These people are my family." I told him as Aura's blade formed in my hand as a double edged sword. "You hurt them in any way, I'll kill you."

Frank looked at me with terror in his eyes as his pal Greninja disintegrated by Sam's hand.

"You...you'll die for-" he said when he was suddenly whacked on the head by Melody's glowing ukulele.

"Not on my watch." She said.

"What...Golduck?" He asked, rubbing my head.

"It's Melody!" She snapped and smacked him again, knocking him out.

We all stared at her, completely dumbstruck.

"Wow...That was awesome." David said.

Melody smiled. "Thanks. I've been trying to lose these guys for months." She said and hit the forfeit button on her menu and removing herself from the team. "I hated those guys."

"Well, you're welcome." Ryota muttered.

Our new friend giggled. "Okay, thanks. But I'm the one that saves your friend here."

"And I'm grateful that you did." I said. "Ryota here is just stubborn."

"Am not!" He retorted.

I laughed and held out my hand. "I'm Michael. I'm the leader of this team."

"Figures." Melody muttered. "Jack's been talking trash about you for a long time."

"Jack was the Servine, right?" Sarah wondered.

"Yep. Hated him the most." She replied. "That's why I want to come with you. I'm done with this stupid game anyway. I want to go home."

I nodded. "We can agree to that." I told her. "I'll let you join, but I'll have to ask you three important questions."

"Okay. Go ahead." She said.

"Okay...how many dungeons have you cleared?" I asked.

"Personally? None. Those other three guys hogged everything."

"How many green or red players have you killed?" Was my second question.

"None." She answered.

"Okay, now this ones important." I said. "What do you desire most?"

"To leave this death game and return to my family." She said.

I nodded. "Okay. Welcome to the group." I said and sent her a guild invite.

"Hey, now hold on." Olivia said. "When did you start asking those?"

"I only ask them to people that were with red players." I said. "Melody wanted nothing to do with that battle, that's why she never attacked us."

"Makes sense." Sarah said and nodded to our new friend. "Go ahead. You're welcome to join."

Melody smiled be was about to accept when a blast of a Flash cannon hit the ground beside us.

"You'd better not accept." I heard Frank snarl. I looked over Melody's shoulder to see him on the bluff, prepping another Flash cannon aimed at her head.

"Watch out!" I yelled and pushed her behind me, throwing my double edged sword at Frank, striking him in the head and knocking him down.

"I didn't hear him disintegrate." Laochra said. "Should we finish him?"

"No. Leave him." I said and turned to Melody, who had already accepted the invitation.

Suddenly, my body started glowing again, and I returned to my old self.

"I guess the Mega evolutions only last for a while." Canilive said.

"Probably. Where'd you find these anyway?" I asked him.

"At the hideout." He said, throwing one to Laochra and Nahliel. "I think they were supposed to be some kind of event, but you know Suguho."

He wouldn't have given them to us in the first place. I thought bitterly.

"Well, we should get going." Avery said, giving Sam a weak smile.

Only, it didn't look that way to me.

"So where are you guys trying to go?" Melody asked.

"The Electric zone." I said. "There's an administrators cube there. We're going to free everyone with it."

"Oh...I hate to tell you, but it's a long ways away." She said, opening her map. "Once you leave here, you have to cross the Lava zone, the Flying zone, and the Fairy zone if we're lucky."

"Fairy zone? Like Alfheim?" Kirito asked.

"Never heard of that, but maybe." She said. "They Flying zone is really easy to cross. All you need are wings or a pet with one."

"Well, I happen to have a Pidgeot." Canilive said. "It can carry at least three people by max."

"I've got some flyers myself." I said, rubbing my chin. "Of course, Zack, Emm, Laochra, and Olivia can fly as well."

"Wait, what about me and Kirito?" Miles asked. "We can fly with our illusions."

"That could work." I said. "Just be sure to turn yourselves into a Pokémon that can carry a lot of people."

They both nodded.

"Well, come on, then." Firestar said. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Can't argue with that." I said. "How cars the town?"

"Uh...we're right below it." Shulk said, pointing to a bunch of huts sitting on the the trees above us.

"Hmm...I don't suppose they've got elevators." Sam said.

* * *

"Good grief." Avery grumbled. "How many stairs can there be in this freaking tree?"

"Too many." I said, panting. "I hate walking up the stairs."

"Well, I'm done walking." Firestar said and suddenly hopped on my shoulder, almost knocking me off my feet.

"Okay, okay, we're there." Canilive announced, laughing as Firestar hopped back to the ground.

As soon as we stepped out of the tree, we were totally awestruck with the scenery.

"Wow...now this is an ewok village." I whistled.

Sarah giggled. "Star Wars fan, eh?"

I chuckled. "All my life."

"Well, we found the town." Canilive said. "And at a good time too. It's getting dark."

"Let's find an inn and stay the night." I suggested.

Everyone agreed, and we went to find the hotel.

Once we arrived we ordered a few rooms and turned in. One room had Sarah, Avery, Sam, and myself. Everyone else took the other rooms.

As I laid on the bed, I thought about those three questions I asked Melody earlier.

Maybe they don't have to be for people that were with reds. I thought. I'm sure there are others that are like her.

No doubt about it, I want to see my parents again. But this time, reunite with my brother as well.

"Hey, you okay?" Sarah whispered.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." I told her. "I'm just thinking."

She smiled. "Okay, but don't think too hard." She said, rubbing my forehead. "You'll give yourself a headache."

I chuckled. "Sure thing."

And with that, we both fell asleep, hoping for tomorrow's best.

**Okay everybody, meet Melody, the musical Golduck. Welcome aboard Grovylethegreat. **

**But yeah, new friend...new enemy...and a sweet village. And the mega Pokémon can mega evolve now. **

**Man this story's fun. I like this a lot. I hope you guys do too. Take care. **


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey, what's up everybody? Here's ace with a new chapter. Hope you enjoy. **

Chapter 18

(Michael)

"Okay, the dungeon shouldn't be far." Olivia reported the next day.

"Remind me: why are we looking for a dungeon?" Axel said.

"We're not clearing it." I told him. "There was word around town that there's a special Pokémon living there. Since it's the Grass type zone, I have an idea on what it could be."

"Well, we won't find out until we get there." Sarah said and walked ahead.

I chuckled. "You said it."

"Well come on, you slowpokes." Firestar said and dashed ahead.

"Hey, slow down, will ya?" I said as we ran after her.

(Meanwhile)

"Okay, so you know where he is?" Kevin asked, holding Frank by the neck.

"Yeah, yeah...he's heading for a dungeon not far from here. I just overheard their idiot leader and came looking for you." He said frantically.

"Hmm...what makes you so concerned about this team?" Lewis wondered, telling his partner to let him loose. "What's the cache?"

"The death of their leader." The Scizor snarled. "I want some payback for him killing my team."

"What say you, Lewis?" Kevin asked.

The Weavile sighed. "Oh well. I guess we'll take you along. But you'll have to prove yourself when we face him."

Frank nodded. "Sure, sure."

"Do you know where they are now?" Kevin asked.

The Scizor shook his head. "No, but I know where the cave is. And I've got a plan."

(Michael)

"Here we are." Olivia said.

"Alright. Let's get us some new partners!" Melody said, looking inside the Dungeons entrance.

"Now hold on, we should get you and Firestar up to our level." I told her, nodding to Canilive.

He nodded back and grabbed two large bags of Rare candies, handing them over.

As soon as they took it, they immediately devoured some until they were at least level seventy-five.

"Okay...now you should be good to go." I said and looked into the entrance. "Let's move, guys."

"Okay...finish him off!" I said, bracing myself as Firestar finished a Skiploom.

"Man, these NPCs are pretty easy." Axel said, finishing another with his Leaf blade.

"Not what I expected." Canilive said.

"Look, the flyer I got from the town square said that this dungeon isn't as challenging as the ones we've cleared before." I said.

"Heh. Obviously." Laochra muttered, not even bothering to look as he swats away an Npc with his tail.

I chuckled when I noticed a faint light in the distance. "Hey, I think we found it!"

"Alright! Let's go!" Melody cheered as we ran towards the light, passing through a portal to a large garden.

"No...way." Sarah said. "This place...it's amazing."

"Oh, it's just a land of flowers." Ryota muttered. "What's the big deal?"

I grinned, walking a few steps forward. "The big deal...is that this is where the mythical Pokémon Shaymin live."

"WHAAAT?!" Everyone shouted.

I nodded. "Yep. Here's where we'll be able to befriend some."

"Hey, works fore me." Blaze said.

"Wait a minute, if we got Shaymin, wouldn't we need to collect a ton of Gracidea flowers for them to transform?" Avery asked.

I shook my head. "The way they have the flower here is the same way Game freak had it in the original games." I explained. "You only need one flower."

"Wow...that's actually a pretty cool deal." David said.

"Never mind that. Let's get us a Shaymin!" Sam said and took off.

I laughed. "Ah, brothers."

"Tell me about it." Sarah giggled. "My brother Rick goes nuts over everything. He's the one that got me into Pokémon."

"I can imagine." I said and plucked a random Gracidea flower, handing it to her. "For you."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Anytime." I told her and took her hand. "Come on, let's go get a Shaymin."

* * *

It wasn't hard to befriend a Shaymin. Their level was lower than I had expected, too.

But, a little training couldn't hurt. Once we get to the next town, I'll be sure to train mine often.

Either that or give it a giant bag of goodies.

"Man, what a treasure." Raiden laughed. "Hey Michael, you think we can try to look for a Keldeo? They're pretty tough, you know."

I nodded. "Sure. The water zone is on the way out, so I guess we can make time to make a quick dungeon run."

"Sweet." He replied.

I smiled and noticed Canilive looking through his inventory.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked. "Something new?"

"What? Oh, no it's nothing. Just looking through my items." He said.

I nodded. "Okay. Come on, let's head back to-"

Suddenly, I was impaled a a dark spear, and I was immediately paralyzed.

"Michael!" I heard Kirito yell when a Zangoose jumped behind him with a Gurdurr and shoved his claws through his chest.

"No!" I yelled in horror as I watched him get shoved aside.

That was when I saw the gamer tags above his attacker's heads.

"Kuradeel?! You're supposed to be dead!" I said and attempted to get back up, but then the Gurdurr pressed me down with his steel beam.

"Sorry, punk. No ones saving this Beater!" He snarled.

Ki-bou? I thought the Liberation army killed him off.

"Enough!" I heard Lewis's voice. "We won't kill them until I give the command."

"Whatever you say." He grunted and kicked Asuna square in the face.

"Asuna!" Kirito and I yelled as she fell to the ground unconscious.

"She deserves more." Kuradeel snarled.

"Perhaps. But they're not the leader of these rebels." Lewis said and knelt down in front of me. "This one is."

I glared at him. "Touch them and I'll kill you." I said.

"Heh. Yeah right. You didn't even finish me off."

I recognized that voice immediately and growled. "Frank!"

"Oh, so you do know him. And here I thought you were too arrogant to know one's name." Lewis chided.

I tried forming an Aura sphere, but then Frank sliced off my arm with his claw. I could only yell in pain.

"Hurt? Good. That's how it felt when you killed Frank's guild." Lewis said. "And when I lost my job."

"Why would you care? You were a lousy teacher anyway." Sarah said.

"Shut her up." Kevin told a Sneasel.

"No! Don't you touch her!" I said. "I'm the one you want."

"True. But you're girlfriend could learn some manners." Lewis said and slashed my back with a Shadow claw, taking out tons of my Hp.

"Michael!" Sam shouted. "Just hang in there!"

"Oh, and I see that you've reunited with your brother." He snarled, raiding his claw. "I find it useless since you'll both die."

I braced myself when he swung, but I didn't feel a think that time.

That was when I realized Sarah had taken the hit.

I watched in horror as her health dropped to zero, and she immediately disintegrated into codes.

"NOOOOO!" I yelled in rage and blasted Lewis square the face, summoning a sword and stabbed him in the chest.

He only coughed once and chuckled. "Prepare to die, you worm." He snarled before disintegrating.

As soon as that happened, all of Lewis's thugs charged in on us, attacking us in a mad frenzy.

I honestly don't remember what happened after that. Everything went all black.

I was lost in my rage.

(Sam)

Sarah...she...she's gone.

When Michael killed that psycho, the only I thought was that he deserved to die for that.

But now we're fighting Lewis's whole team, and we could barely move a muscle because we're paralyzed.

That is...except for Michael, who started slashing the thugs like crazy.

"Michael! Calm down! Please!" Firestar begged.

He didn't hear her. I'm pretty sure there was nothing that could bring him back at this point.

"Sam...you've got to help your brother." Canilive said.

"I can't. I'm paralyzed." I told him.

"I'm not taking about now." He said. "I'm saying that you need to help him and Sarah."

"Wait...what?" Laochra asked.

Canilive only looked at Michael. "What I'm about to do...it'll bring her back and heal everyone...but I won't make it." He said and turned to me. "If he asks...tell him I did it for the greater good."

"Canilive, no!" Avery said. "We need your help."

He shook his head. "Not anymore. I sent all my items to Michael, including the drive with the information on this game."

Canilive. I thought. "Don't do it."

"I'm sorry, but I only have a limited amount of time before Sarah's gone forever." He said. "Please...make this worth it!"

And with that, his body started glowing brightly.

"Saving...Grace!" He yelled and released a ripple of energy, wiping out the Sneasel thugs and taking off our paralysis.

Not only that, Sarah reappeared, unconscious but alive.

But when I looked over to where Canilive was...all I saw were cubes.

"Canilive..." Avery whimpered as tears welled up in her eyes.

I felt that it was only right that I took her hand as we stood up, staring at the enraged Michael standing before us with his arm restored.

"Michael?" I asked, and in an instant, he snapped to attention.

"Sam? What...what happened?" He asked when he saw Sarah laid on her back.

"Oh my...Sarah!" He said and picked her up. "How...how is she-"

"Canilive." Laochra said. "He...he used this...Saving grace move to heal everyone, but it costed him his life.

He stared at us in horror. "What? No..."

"There was nothing we could do." I said as he looked away.

"But we can still do something." Avery said. "We have to stop Suguho. If we can return to the real world, we can destroy this game and arrest this monster once and for all."

"Avery's right." Kirito said, helping up Asuna. "Suguho may be the god of this world, but in our world he'll be finished in a keystroke."

Michael nodded. "You're right." He said. "Who else got away?"

"Kuradeel, Frank, and Kevin." I said.

He nodded. "Okay. Let's get moving. It's not safe here." He said and led the way, carrying Sarah.

"His tone..." Laochra said. "It...it's-"

"He just snapped out of a rage." I said. "Let him be."

"You've seen this before?" Ryota asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I have." I said when I realized I was still holding Avery's hand.

"Oh...sorry." I said, quickly dropping mine to my side.

She shook her head. "No...it's fine." She said and followed Michael.

I sighed. I was hoping that Michael would never have that kind of episode again. Not after what happened five years ago.

**Canilive...you shall be remembered. **

**To the maker of Canilive, since your Oc has passed, you're allowed to make a new one if you want. Just because he's dead doesn't mean you're forgotten. That goes or the rest of you too. If I end up killing your only OC, you're allowed to make another if you wish. **

**Although this chapter had a sad ending, I hope you enjoyed it. **


	20. Chapter 19

**hey, what's up everybody? Here's chapter 19. Enjoy. **

Chapter 19

(Sam)

It was hard to tell how far we've gotten. After what just happened, the only thing I cared about was helping Michael.

But we got tired pretty fast.

"Mike...we should stop." Miles said. "You need the rest."

Michael said nothing as he laid Sarah against a rock. I can't imagine what could be on his mind.

"Michael...Michael! Stay with us, man!" Laochra said, smacking him upside the head with his tail, only to have Aura's blade at his throat.

"Woah Woah! Michael!" Kirito said. "Calm down! It's us."

He snapped to attention and looked at us in confusion. "Guys? What...what happened?"

"You went into a rage." Asuna said. "Do you...remember anything?"

He stared at her. "I...I remember stabbing Lewis, then...then everything went dark." He said and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Canilive, where's the next town?"

"Michael...Canilive's gone." Avery said.

He stared at her. "What?"

"He made this move called "Saving grace." I said. "When he used it...he killed Lewis's henchmen to heal the rest of us and revive Sarah."

He looked away. "No...NOOOO!" He yelled and used Power up punch on a tree.

We could only stare at him sadly.

"It...it should've been me." I heard him mumble. "This would never have happened if...if I-"

"Michael...it's not your fault." Kirito said softly. "He was willing to die for all of us to get out."

"But he didn't need to do it!" He snapped.

I couldn't think of anything to say. It's not the first time he was like this.

Suddenly, Sarah shuddered as she slowly opened here eyes.

"What...what happened?" She asked, slowly standing up.

"Sarah!" Michael said and embraced her.

"How...how am I back?" She wondered.

"Canilive...he used this move to revive you." Laochra said. "Only, he didn't make it."

She gasped. "No..." Said said and hugged Michael tighter.

"The one thing he did before he died was send Michael his items." Nahliel said.

"I would've gotten them by-" Michael tried to tell him when a message icon appeared in front of him. He pressed it, and his inventory automatically appeared, filling up like crazy.

"Well...merry Christmas." Ryota muttered.

Michael only glared at him as he got the hard drive Canilive used, opening the map he downloaded. "By the looks of it, there's a shortcut that'll take us straight there, but it's pretty tough."

"You're not thinking of going that way, are you?" David asked.

"It's up to you." He replied.

"Well, the sooner we get out of here, the better." Blaze said.

"But we can't do it now." Shulk said. "It's getting dark."

I looked at him. "Okay. Shulk, Steven, you think you two can get some firewood?"

They nodded and took off for the forest.

* * *

Later that night, we sat around the large fire, not even saying a word to each other.

"You know...that Gurdurr called you a Beater." Blaze told Kirito, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.

He nodded. "Why?"

"Because I remember a faint nickname someone used once in SAO." He said.

"Yeah." Kirito said. "You know who it is, right?"

He shook his head. "I told you, my memory of that game is very faint." He told him.

"Well, it's been three months." Michael said. "What do you remember?"

Blaze looked away. "Well...I remember diving into the game...fighting a few bosses...then things get fuzzy. I got lucky getting this much back."

"Wait a minute!" Asuna said. "I remember you! You were the kid that fought with us in the final battle, when Kirito killed Heathcliff."

He looked at her. "I was?"

Michael nodded. "How could I forget you? You saved my life."

He looked away, then his eyes widened. "Kirito! You're...you're the Kirito!" He said excitedly

He laughed. "Yep. Welcome back, kid."

"I knew you'd get some memory back." Michael said.

Blaze grinned. "And I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Speaking of which...are you feeling okay?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm...I'm okay."

"Why do you ask?" Asuna wondered.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You sound like you've dealt with this before." Kirito said. "Did something happen in SAO?"

I shook my head. "No. It's nothing."

"Come on. We'll understand." Amber said.

I sighed. "Okay. It was a year before SAO when we lost our older sister to an accident."

"Oh...wow! Were you close?" Asuna asked.

Michael nodded. "Yeah."

"Wow...I'm...I'm sorry. I never knew." Avery said.

"Is that why you thought of me as a sister?" Asuna asked.

Michael nodded. "I'm sorry."

"No no, it's fine. You two were like brothers to me anyway." She said.

"Heh. Yeah." Kirito said.

Michael smiled as Sarah rested her head on his shoulder, already snoozing away.

"Michael...are you sure going through the shortcut will help us?" Raiden asked.

"It's the only way." He replied. "Avery and Sam don't have much time, and I'm done being a pawn to Suguho's game."

"Hear hear!" Zack and Jason said, accidentally waking up Sarah.

"Woah...what happened?" She asked, shaking away the drowsiness.

Michael laughed as he took her hand.

I'm not too sure why, but I started tapping a familiar rhythm on the log I was sitting on.

Michael nodded. I guess he hadn't forgotten the song we enjoyed.

"I'm gonna be a warrior of light. Suddenly it's the man in the making. The battles on...to overcome." I sang quietly.

"Not alone, my brother by my side." Michael started, smiling. "I will fight, till the war is won. I know it can be done. Not the only one."

Suddenly, Melody started strumming on her ukulele. But instead it sounded like a guitar.

"For those who've gone before, have shown how to travel this road." We both started singing in unison. "With courage in our hearts, we are not afraid to be bold. Bitter winds...may be blowin...but I know where I'm goin!"

Before we knew it, everyone else joined in.

"Gonna be a warrior of light. Suddenly it's the man in the making. The battles on...to overcome."

"Not alone, my brother by my side. I will fight till the war is won. Know it can be done. Not the only one." We finished.

Michael smiled. "Thanks, pal."

I grinned. "Just brightening the mood here."

Everyone stifled a laugh as Laochra patted my brother hard on the back.

"You'll get us home, chief. We trust ya. We'll be back home before you know it."

"Hey, I thought I was the optimist." Blaze said, laughing.

The rest of us laughed as my brother leaned forward.

"Guys...this means a lot to me. From now on, when we fight...we fight for Canilive and the hope he carried with him." He said. "I...I promise I'll get you home. All of you."

Sarah smiled. "We know. Because we're by your side to the end."

"And when we do get home, we should all meet together." Kirito suggested. "If you guys want, I can invite my friends from SAO."

"One thing at a time." Laochra said, smacking him on the back with his tail and knocking him over.

We all laughed harder as Kirito tried to get back up, but couldn't move because of the heavy tail.

"Well, let's get some rest." Michael said. We could use it."

**okay...after a terrifying battle...I'm glad they're able to cool down. **

**For those of u who don't know, the song the team was singing was "Not the only one", a song I found appropriate for this chapter. Just be sure to give Scott Krippayne some credit, cause it's his song and all. **

**Anyway, See ya. **


	21. Chapter 20

**Hey, what's up guys? Here's chapter 20. This was tricky, especially with me being sick, but I manged to finish and that's what counts, so enjoy. **

Chapter 20

"How could you fail?" Suguho growled. "They were paralyzed!"

"Yeah, but that cop kid...did something to restore their health." Frank said. "I didn't see tha-"

Suddenly, the director grabbed Frank by the throat. "This is what happens when you fail." He snarled.

As soon as he said that, Frank's avatar started glitching in a frenzy until he dissipated into code.

"Sir, the team just can't be stopped." Kevin said. "They're too powerful."

"I'm aware of that!" The director snapped. "What I don't understand is how their almost to the Electric zone."

"What's the big deal? It's just another zone." Howlett grumbled.

"The big deal? The GM console was placed there. And now, thanks to that cop, they know where to find it. If they get a hold of it, they'll free every player, make it green or red."

"Oh...right." The Zangoose said.

"Where are they now?" Kuradeel asked.

"Just halfway across the water zone." Suguho said. "After that, they'll be in the flying zone."

"Well, we can always just...attack them now." Kuradeel said.

The director nodded. "We could. No one else in that group has...Saving grace, was it?"

Ki-bou nodded. "I think so."

"Well, let's get going." Howlett said impatiently. "Time I said hello to that-."

"Sir! We've got a problem!" A Pawniard hollered.

"What?" Suguho demanded.

"The AI...she escaped!" He said nervously.

At first, there was an uncomfortable silence, then Suguho suddenly slammed his fist into the desk.

"Find it!" He ordered. "Kayaba's AI shall never make it!"

* * *

(Michael)

"Okay, finish him!" I said, bracing myself as Shulk and Steven finished off Empoleon, one of the Water zone bosses.

"Alright!" Miles said. "That's was easy."

"Easy? You're one to talk!" Laochra grumbled. "You're not the one that's weak to water types."

We all laughed as we walked through the large doors leading to our destination: Keldeo's lake.

"WOOHOO! Man I've wanted one!" Sam said.

"Why?" David asked.

"Well, they're known to be reckless." I chuckled.

"Makes sense." Laochra mutters. "You two are pretty dang reckless."

"Speak for yourself." Avery laughed.

I rolled my eyes when the bushes beside me started rustling.

I summoned Aura's blade and braced myself as a Ralts suddenly stumbled out. It looked completely battered.

"What the...what's a Ralts doing out here?" Ryota asked.

"It doesn't act like an Npc." Kirito said. "NPCs don't limp."

The Ralts looked at him...as if it recognized his voice.

"Daddy?" It asked.

Asuna gasped. "Y-Yui?"

"You know that player?" Miles asked.

"She's not a player." Kirito said. "She's an AI."

"What?! You're kidding." David said.

I shook my head as Yui jumped into Asuna's arms. "It's true. I met Yui in SAO, when someone sent me a message to look for someone named Thinker."

"I remember that." Sam said. "You got that message from Kirito, and you took off without a word."

I laughed. "Yeah...I guess that was pretty reckless of me."

"Heh, no wonder you like Keldeo." Ryota muttered.

"Will she be okay?" Sarah asked, pointing to Yui.

I shrugged. "I don't know. We don't even know why she's here." I said. "SAO deleted her from the system."

"Actually, it didn't." Kirito said. "Don't you remember? I turned her into an item as she disappeared."

"She came back in ALO, and ever since then, she stuck with us." Asuna said tearfully.

"Well that I didn't know." I said. "I thought you two died."

Kirito shrugged. "Good point."

"So...why show up now." Melody asked.

"Because Suguho took me from Daddy's inventory." Yui said.

"What?" Asuna asked.

The Ralts nodded. "When you first dived into PO, Suguho found Yui's heart in Daddy's inventory and disabled access between us."

That's why Kirito couldn't summon her. I realized.

"So, after all this time, Suguho kept you from us." Kirito snarled, clenching his claws.

"That way you won't be able to leave." A voice said behind us.

I wheeled around to see the Gurdurr from before.

"Ki-bou!" Laochra said, growling at him.

"Cool your jets, hothead." He chuckled. "I'm not here for trouble. At least...not yet."

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"Well, my mission was to stop this brat from getting to you punks. He said. "But since she's made to ya, it looks like we'll have to kill you all anyway."

"We?" I wondered when two Zangoose appeared, along with a Sneasel.

"Kuradeel." Asuna grumbled.

"Not to mention Howlett and Kevin themselves." I added.

Then I noticed that Frank wasn't among them.

"Oh...you're looking for the Scizor, eh?" Ki-bou snickered. "Well, the boss found no use of him anyway, so he's gone."

"And you're still working with him?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. The best part is that we get revenge on you. That's all we care about."

I was about to say something when Sarah suddenly stepped forward, pointing Aura's blade at him.

"Well, prepare to be disappointed." She said.

My eyes widened. "Wow!"

"Who are you and what have you done with Sarah?" Laochra asked.

"It's me!" She said. "I'm just tired of us being picked on by people like them."

"Oh, now you're asking for it!" Ki-bou snarled and ran towards her, but Kirito jumped in the way and slashed him apart with Shadow claw.

I grinned and immediately threw a capture orb at a passerby Keldeo, immediately befriending it as I summoned my Shaymin.

"You want us? Come and get us." I said.

Kuradeel growled at us. "My pleasure." He said and pounced towards Kirito, but Asuna and Laochra knocked him off with Fire blast.

"That was for Canilive!" Laochra yelled.

"You said it." I told him and tossed an Aura sphere at Kevin as I commanded my pets to attack the others.

"Michael, watch out!" I heard Raiden yell as Howlett yelped and smacked his face into the ground.

I gave Raiden a slight nod and prepared to finish him off.

"Not this time." A familiar voice said behind me. I tuned around just in time to see an dark Aura sphere slam me into the wall.

"Michael!" Sarah yelled.

I could only let out a gasp of pain as I crumpled to the ground.

"I hope that hurt. Especially after all the trouble you had to put us through." The voice said above me. I looked up just to see none other than Suguho himself.

"You!" I snarled and attempted to stand up, but he pinned me into the cliff wall.

"I don't think I gave you permission to move." He said. "In fact, I don't think I gave you permission to do anything."

"What can I say, I hate control freaks." I said.

He gritted his teeth. "You an I have some unfinished business, boy."

"Why wait? I've got time." I said. "You don't scare me."

"Yes, but you've also got your friends here." He sneered. "And that can get...distracting."

And with that, he froze my team with Psychic.

"Take them." He told the others.

His thugs nodded as the started moving the frozen bodies.

"Where are you taking us?" I demanded.

"It's none of your concern." He said. "You'll die anyways."

As he lifted off, he dragged me along, taking the us who knows where.

* * *

(Meanwhile)

Firestar crawled from under the bush with Yui, watching Suguho take off with her friends.

"Come on Yui, they shouldn't be going far." She said and dashed ahead to follow the group.

Suguho's in for a surprise. She thought.

**oh boy, things are gonna get crazier now. **

**Hope u enjoyed this one.**

**oh yeah, quick notice, the next chapter Will bring back our normal human forms, so I'll need an appearance description of your characters. I don't want to describe him/her wrong and get flamed for it. **


	22. Chapter 21

**Hey, what's up? Happy Halloween! Oh wait...this came a bit late...oh well. enjoy the chapter. **

Chapter 21

(Sarah)

I don't remember much from that fight. After Suguho used Psychic on us, I couldn't handle the pressure and blacked out.

Honestly, it felt like he's got a pain meter and set it to ten.

I woke up and found myself being dragged across the floor of some lab, like the LC base in the Normal zone.

"She's awake." One of the Sneasels snarled.

"Don't mind her, she can't do anything with her paralysis." The other grunted.

Paralysis? I wondered and checked my Hp gauge. Sure enough, there was a paralysis symbol beside.

What is it with these guys and paralysis? I thought as I watched them open the door to a white cell and threw me in.

Once I hit the floor, my paralysis was gone. But that wasn't the only thing that came off.

My avatar was gone! My normal human body came back, only with an odd looking jumpsuit.

"I don't remember putting anything like this on." I said.

I attempted to summon Michael's custom move, but nothing came.

Figures. I'm a human again. I thought when I heard Shulk. I glanced out the cell window and saw the Sneasels dragging him to a cell next to mine.

"At least everyone's here." I said to myself when I was struck by bolts of electricity coming from the walls.

"I hope that hurt." That Zangoose known as Howlett sneered.

I wanted to say something, but my head felt like imploding.

"Now, to be honest, I didn't want to to this, but since you're supposed to be dead; and Lewis dying, I guess I could change things." He said and zapped me again, holding it on.

"Enough!" I heard Suguho yell, and the thunderbolts left, leaving me on the floor with tears in my eyes.

"Leave...now." I heard Suguho tell his thug.

Howlett didn't say anything, but instead gave me another quick dose of that electricity.

"I'm sorry about Howlett." Suguho said with a soothing voice which surprised me. "He's not one to forgive."

I'll say. I thought. "What do you...want?"

"I just want to give you a chance." He said. "I mean, not a lot of people survive an attack like you did. In fact, I didn't expect that Sceptile friend of yours sacrifice himself to revive you."

"If you join me, I'll see to it that you safely return to the real world." He said.

I laughed. "You think I'm an idiot? The minute I agree to you, you'll kill me anyway." I said and slammed the glass with all the strength I could muster. "You're a monster."

He snarled and shocked me again. "And you're working with a coward!" He yelled as he watched me writhe in pain.

"What...what do you have against Michael?" I asked. "All he's ever done was try to help people."

"Oh...so that's what he's been filling your head with, isn't it? That he's the bleeding heated hero?"

"Well, at least he's more friendlier than you." I said. "If you wanted me to join you, could could always ask nicely and not zap me every five seconds."

He gritted his teeth. "So that's how you feel, after all that's happened."

"That's how everyone one of us feels about you!" I said. "And no matter what, we will end this game if it's the last thing we do."

He gave a sly grin. "We'll see."

And with that, he shocked me once more, leaving it on longer than I'd hoped.

The only think I could do was scream in pain.

* * *

(Michael)

"Sarah?" I said, listening hard. No doubt about it, that's definitely her.

I've got to get out of here. I though and tried to pull my arm out of the metal bands on my chair.

"I wouldn't bother." Kevin said as he walked in. "You're never getting out of here."

"Try me. I've done it before."

He chuckled. "You're so arrogant."

"Yeah? Well at least I've got something to fight for." I spat.

He was about to say something when he was suddenly thrown out by Suguho himself.

"I hate it when they talk to the prisoners without permission." He said. "But not as much as I hate you."

"I don't understand, what did I ever do to make myself a target?" I demanded. "I've never met you before."

"No? Are you sure you don't remember me?" He asked. "If I recall...I worked with you once on the sixty seventh boss."

That's when it hit me, he was the one player that was causing us problems that day. "You..."

He guffawed. "Now you remember, eh?"

"You're the one that was causing those players to die!" I said. "And you're mad at me for what, not recruiting you?!"

"You needed me!" He yelled.

"You were a risk." I told him. "If you had caused all those problems we would've thought otherwise."

"Well...thanks to you, you've created a monster." He snarled.

I leaned forward. "You're your own monster." I said slowly.

Without warning, he flat out socked me in the face with Mega punch, launching my chair into the wall.

"Bring in the Gallade!" He yelled out the door. "It's time I taught you a lesson for your treachery."

One of the Sneasels came, dragging Raiden along and tossed him in.

Once he passed through the door, he turned into his natural self with the jumpsuit.

"Surprised? I set it up to reveal your human forms, that way you'll be able to see yourself one last time before you die." Suguho said, grabbing Raiden by the hair. "But first, let me show you the punishment for defiance!"

Suguho drew his sword, putting the blade by Raiden's throat when the room violently shook, knocking him off his feet as the lights started sparking.

"What was that?" He demanded.

"Sir, someone's attacking the base!" A Bisharp yelled through the intercom.

"Get over there and see what's going on!" He replied and smacked Raiden upside the head. "I'll deal with you two later."

Once he left, there was another violent explosion, and the whole room went dark.

* * *

(Sam)

Once we were hit by that explosion, I knew someone was trying to help us.

Now it's time to help from the inside.

As another blast shook the room, the power suddenly went out, and the door unlocked itself.

"They're messin with the wrong family." I chuckled and pushed it open, turning back into my avatar.

Sadly, one of the Bisharp saw me. "Hey! The prisoner's-" he tried to finish, but I killed him with Psycho cut.

"You were saying?" I asked and walked over to the console, pressing the power of the backup generators.

They forget, I was a huge hacker once. I thought and released everyone from their cells.

Avery's cell opened first, and she tackled me with a hug.

"Great job." She said.

"Anytime." I replied.

"Where's Michael and the others?" Kirito asked.

"I found him!" Laochra announced, pushing open the door to reveal my brother and Amber's unconscious twin.

"Let's get them out of here." I said. "I'll cut the bands off."

Laochra and I carried Michael's chair out while Amber helped her brother.

Once the chair was set down, I nodded to Leo and we sliced off the metal cuffs.

"You okay?" I asked as Michael got up.

He nodded. "Yeah. Where's Sarah?"

"She hadn't come out of her cell." Zack said.

Without a word, Michael brushed past us and ran for the cell his girlfriend was located.

As soon as he walked in, he came out with her in his arms.

"What happened to her?" Avery asked, horrified.

"I don't know. Let's get her out of here." He said and put her arm over his shoulders. "Help me out."

I nodded and supported her by her other arm. "We'll have to take it slow." I suggested. "Whatever that guy did...it did a lot."

"That's why we need to get to the Electric zone now." Michael said.

"Uh...Michael...this is the electric zone." Raiden coughed, pointing to the window. "Look."

Once we looked out the window, I felt like laughing in Suguho's face. "We made it."

Avery whooped with joy and hugged me, which surprised both of us.

"Sorry." She giggled.

I shrugged. "No worries."

"Looks like you two aren't the only lovebirds." Laochra chuckled, pointing to David and Olivia.

"Oh shut up!" The Quilava said.

Michael laughed and gently shook Sarah. "Hang in there. You'll be home before you know it."

"You think she'll make it?" Asuna asked.

"She's got to." I said. "We're not losing anyone. Not after Canilive."

My brother nodded. "Let's move. Kirito, take point."

He nodded. "Come on!"

"Wait, maybe we should change something." Michael said. "Suguho said that he installed something in our cells to turn us back to humans, right?"

"Yeah. So what?" Ryota demanded.

My brother gave him his confident grin. "I've got an idea."

* * *

"Michael, we don't have time for this." I said, watching him pull the cords from his cell walls. "Soon there'll be more Laughing coffins on us.

"I know." He said, jumping off Laochra. "But that doesn't mean we can't fight them the old fashion way.

"You're...kidding." Kirito said.

He shook my head. "Nope. We're gonna do it. All I have to do is set this thing up to stay on, and we'll be out normal selves." He said, taking out Canilive's hacking device.

"Work your magic, Stark." Laochra joked.

Michael smiled and started typing in commands on the overhead computer, and soon enough, the cube emitted some energy wave, turning us back to our old selves.

"No way...I'm human again!" Avery said happily but frowned at her clothes. "What's with the jumpsuits?"

"I don't know. I can't access my armor either." Michael said when his favorite sword showed up on his back. "But we can have our weapons."

"Now this is an uprising!" Laochra said.

"No...not an uprising, but a fight for freedom." I said. "It's time we went home once and for all!"

**Ok then, the battles on. It's time to tip the scales (sorry, I love saying that)**

**but yeah, sadly your guys can't access the clothing items cause this jumpsuits musy be doing something to block that. But, you can access your old SAO weapons, so just tell me what they are, and there you go. **

**Have a good start of November. Cheers. **


	23. Chapter 22

**Hey, what's up everybody? Here's Ace with Chapter 22. Hope u enjoy it, cuz this one was hard as heck. I'm sure it'll be worth it though. **

Chapter 22

(Michael)

Once I drew my swords from my back, I looked over my shoulder at the Bisharp heading our way.

"Good news, boys...you're not dealing with Pokémon anymore." I told them, grinning. "Bad news, you're dealing with the Guardians of light!"

And in response, Kirito and Asuna leapt towards them with their swords, completely wiping them out.

"Eat this!" Ryota yelled and slashed three across the face with his big claymore.

Dang...he must've been a good warrior. I thought and jumped in with Sam, striking one on the leg to immobilize him while taking one's arm off.

"Let's go before more show up." Kirito said as two arrows flew over his head, striking two more on the chest.

"Nice shot." Sam said.

"Thanks." Both Emm and Zack said in unison.

"Looks like you two have that twin habit after all." Raiden chuckled, drawing his twin katanas.

I laughed when I noticed Melody beating the crud out of the Bishatp with her ukulele. I'm surprised that thing hadn't blown apart yet.

But then of course...this is a video game.

"How far from the console?" Amber asked.

"Not too far." I said. "We've just got to get to the fifth floor and we're there."

"Good. I'm tired of this suit." Avery said.

"Amen there, sister." Laochra said and slashed a Bisharp down.

"Wait...what about Yui and Firestar?" Asuna asked.

I never thought about that. No doubt, Firestar's the one that attacked the base.

"Okay...here's the plan: half of us will go look for Firestar and bring her here while me and the others go for the console." I said.

"Sounds good." Shulk said.

After thoroughly deciding who was going with who, I put a beacon on Firestar, who happened to be on the floor above.

"Okay, my team, let's go!" Ryota said and turned to me. "If we don't make it back, hit the switch."

I nodded. "Right. See you on the other side."

He grinned. "It was an honor working with you." He said and led half of the group down the corridor.

"Where to, boss?" Blaze asked.

I grinned. "Come on, we're not too far." I said and led them down the other corridor.

It wasn't long before we stumbled into a pretty large group of Bisharp, led by none other than Kuradeel himself.

"Well, well, well. You ready to die?" He asked me and blasted me with a hyper beam.

I braced myself as Amber slammed her large shield into the ground in front of me, blocking the attack.

"Phew! Close one." She said as she picked it back up.

"Nice shield." I told her as Kirito stepped in front of me, raising his black swords.

"It's me you want, Kuradeel." He said pointing his sword at him. "Let the others go."

"I'm afraid that can't happen." He snarled. "Either fight me, or die with your friends."

"That's not going to happen!" Zack yelled and fired his arrow, striking Kuradeel on the chest.

"He's wide open!" I said.

Asuna and Kirito sped towards their archenemy, slashing him with their swords until he knocked them back with Dark pulse.

"Kirito! Asuna!" I yelled as they fell to the ground unconscious.

"He's more powerful than before!" Laochra said.

"That's why I'm going to kill him!" I said and dashed towards Kuradeel, dodging his attack to slash him across the chest.

"You think that'll be enough to kill me?" He sneered and kicked me back. "You're not the only one that can turn back to your human self."

And with that, his body started changing shape, and he stood before me with the same suit he wore when I first met him, aiming his great sword at me.

"No fair! How come he gets his old suit?" Laochra grumbled.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, boy!" Kuradeel snapped, only to find the blade of my sword at his neck.

"I suggest you get your head in the game." I said. "You're fighting me, so fight me!"

He gritted his teeth and smacked my blade away, attempting to bring his sword down on my head, but I managed to block it in time.

I jumped back and rolled behind him, slashing him in the back.

He only stumbled before wheeling around to retaliate by striking my side, but I managed to block it before it could hit me. With my free sword, I stabbed him on the side and pushed him back.

"I have to admit...you're no helpless victim." He panted.

"What can I say? Kirito taught me." I said and kicked him in the face, staggering him enough to let me stab him in the gut.

He only glared at me, grinning.

"You'll...pay." He said before disintegrating.

"We'll see about that." I said, staring at what's left of the traitor and turned to the others.

"Come on. Let's get moving!" I said and started running when my body suddenly stiffened, freezing me in place.

"Michael!" I heard Sarah yell as she and the others also became petrified.

"Well...where do you think you're going?" Suguho said, walking towards me with an Aura sphere at his fingertips.

"You'd best give up now, Suguho. You're finished." I said. "It'll save your life."

"Yes, perhaps." He said. "But...I feel it'd be fitting if I killed you first."

"Leave him alone!" Laochra yelled.

"Fine...so you want to kill me so bad, huh?" I said. "Okay, let's have a duel."

He looked at me as if I was joking. "You're serious?"

"Why not? It'll be like the old days." I said. "Us standing against each other like we used to in SAO."

"Michael...what are you saying?" Sam asked.

I sighed. "Look, just let the others go. I'm the one you want."

"Michael, no!" Sarah yelled. "You don't need to do that."

"I have to, Sarah." I said. "I'm done being stuck in this death game. If I can get rid of Suguho, it'll give us a chance to escape."

I then turned to Suguho. "You gonna start or what?"

He glared at me. "Very well. Prepare to die." He snarled as he suddenly started changing into his human form, holding a double ended sword.

I sighed as I drew my swords. "You don't have to do this. We can walk away right now, and it'll save more lives than you think."

He gritted his teeth. "You think I'm that much of a coward?"

"No. You're not." I said. "That much I know. But I also know that you have a conscience. Just do the right thing for once."

"NEVER!" He hollered in rage and attempted to stab he head on, but I knocked it aside and just barely gave him a good scratch across the face before getting kicked in the side, knocking me away.

I managed to stop myself by driving my sword into the ground and use it to launch myself back, slashing the director as hard as I could.

I've just gotta keep him focused on me. I thought. That way the others can get to the console.

Finally, I found my chance. I slashed his wrist, distracting him enough to let me sweep his legs with my other sword, knocking him flat on his back with the end of my sword at his throat.

"Not bad...but can you beat this?" He asked.

Before I could react, I was struck on the back, and my left arm was sliced off as I was thrown on the floor.

"You think your skills are enough to save you? You're pathetic." Howlett snarled as I tried to stand up.

"Where you see weakness...I see strength." I said, picking up my swords like they were double ended with my good arm. "I'll take you all on!"

And with that, I swung the swords as I spun around, striking Ki-bou on the arm and slicing off Howlett's hand in the process.

"Die!" Ki-bou yelled in rage and attempted to strike, but I knocked his blade away, spinning around to stab him in the chest.

He coughed once and glared at me. "You...have no honor." He said before disintegrating.

"You're the one with no honor." I said and turned to face Suguho and Kevin.

"Bring it." I said coldly, using my hand to spin the swords.

"For Lewis!" Kevin yelled and started running towards me, but stopped when he saw my spinning swords and started backing away.

"What's wrong? You going to attack or what?" I asked and dodged his blade, striking him on the side.

"That was for Canilive." I said as he became codes.

I took a deep breath. "That was close." I said when I became impaled from behind.

"Michael!" Sam yelled.

"You're...so...weak!" Suguho snarled as he pulled his sword out and blasted me with Aura sphere, taking out the rest of my Hp.

It's over. I thought as my body started glitching.

I'm sorry...everyone.

* * *

(Sam)

"MICHAEL!" I yelled in horror, watching as my brother fell to the ground and disintegrated.

"No..." Laochra said, falling to his knees.

I looked over to Kirito and Asuna, who looked as if they were close to breaking.

After all this time...this is what happens to my brother? I thought when the light around Asuna dissipated, and she dashed towards Suguho with incredible speed, aiming her rapier at him.

"Asuna!" Kirito and I yelled after her and ran to help.

We totally took Suguho by surprise as we all attacked him, one by one, slowly depleting his Hp.

"This is for Michael you coward!" I yelled and stabbed him in the chest.

"Sam, move!" I heard Blaze yell. I nodded and jumped out of the way as Blaze charged up his rapiers and dove straight through the director, wiping out his Hp.

He only looked at me, eyes burning with hatred. "This...isn't...over." He snarled as he disintegrated.

It is for now. I thought when Sarah fell on her knees, crying out for Michael.

I turned to Blaze, noticing that he doesn't have a jumpsuit on like the rest of us. He's wearing the real world's clothes.

"Blaze...how are you-"

"I'm not sure." He said. "But...you remember the battle of Laughing coffin in SAO?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well...that's where I was killed." He said. "The blaze you knew in the final battle...that wasn't me."

"But then...how are you here?" Kirito asked.

"I think...Canilive's Saving grace brought me back." He said. "I'm not sure how, but whatever that move was saved me."

I smiled. "I'm glad you're back, kid." I said. "Michael would be too."

Suddenly, the congratulations icon appeared above the battlefield, and each of the Laughing coffin members started glowing.

"The game's crashing." Kirito said and noticed Yui running towards him with arms outstretched.

"What happened?" Ryota asked as he walked up. "Where's...Michael?"

I looked away as my eyes started watering. "Michael...didn't make it."

"Oh my...after all that's happened?" He demanded.

I nodded when a message icon appeared in front of Sarah. She pressed it and like before, all of Michael's items were instantly shipped to her inventory.

"I guess some things never change." Avery said as she locked her hand in mine.

Sarah smiled as she got the hard drive from the inventory, tapping it for information.

"It has information on one of Suguho's bases." She said. "I'll take it to the police, and we'll free you two, along with the other prisoners."

I looked away. "Sarah...I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be. He did it for all of us."

I nodded. "Okay. See you on the other side."

Right on cue, the base around us started crumbling around us, but we were already transported back to the real world.

We're going home.

**It's over...Pokémon online shall cease to exist. **

**Looks like this story is nearing its end. But there may be a sequal. Just wait. **


	24. Chapter 23

**Okay, here's chapter 23. I know, that was quick, but after the recent update...Ho yeaj you're in for a surprise this time. **

Chapter 23

(Sam)

As soon as I woke up, I didn't find myself in a hospital room.

I was strapped to a table, inside an old warehouse.

"They're waking up!" A voice said.

"What about the prisoners?" A rougher one asked.

"Yep. They're all waking up."

"Well then, time to lose some lives." It said. "Terminate these two!"

Oh no...he means me and Avery! I thought when I heard gunfire.

"Cops? How'd they get here so fast?" One of the thugs wondered.

"Never mind that. Let's pull the plug on these two." The rough one said as he loomed over me.

"Wakey wakey." He sneered.

I tried to move, but since I've been stuck in the virtual world for four years, I'm not sure I've got any muscles left.

Suddenly, the door blew open, and three figures stormed in.

"Put your hands in the air now!" One of them said. I figured he was a cop.

The younger thug immediately dropped his gun and held his hands up while an officer checked him for anything suspicious.

But the rough looking one won't back down.

"Just because one plans foiled, doesn't mean we're finished!" He yelled and aimed his gun at me. "Take one step, and I'll kill this one!"

"I don't think so." A familiar voice said when a gun went off, knocking the pistol out of the thugs hand.

What the...I wondered when I looked over the corner of my eye to see a yo unger looking cop walk towards the console, pointing his gun at the thug.

"Nice shot Canilive." One of the officers said, holding the gun.

Canilive? That's impossible. I thought. He died in the grass zone.

"Let's get these two out of here." He said, patting my shoulder. "They deserve that much."

* * *

The whole ride to the hospital was hard for me, since I can't move too well, I got uncomfortable easily.

"Hand in there, kid." One of the officers said.

"C-Canilive." I managed to say with a coarse voice.

He nodded. "He's right here." He said and scooted near the drivers seat.

Canilive sat next to me with a smile on his face. "Hey kid."

"H-how are you-"

"Alive? I'm not so sure myself." He said. "The whole time I almost thought I was. But when you guys beat the game...thanks."

"How long...has it been?" I asked, wincing.

"Since it crashed? Almost a week." He said. "Don't worry. The others are awake. It's just..."

"What?" I demanded.

He looked at me with sad eyes. "Your brother's body disappeared."

* * *

(Sarah)

I sat at the waiting room of the hospital with both my dad, brother, and Michael's parents, watching the doors open and close as more people came and went.

Things got pretty crazy since I woke up. The whole week I've been visited by reporters and cops, demanding answers as if I was part of the group that caused the problems.

When I gave them the information off my Nerve gear, that was when they left me alone.

Part of me believed that Michael would just elk through those doors with a smile on his face, telling me that it's truly over.

No...this is only the beginning. I thought when one of the officers sat down beside me.

"Sarah, I've got some good news: Canilive's team just rescued Sam and Avery from thugs who worked with Suguho." He said.

"Any sign of Michael?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no. Where ever they moved him...it must be a new place they set up shop."

"Thank you." Dad said, rubbing my shoulder.

"Really, thank you." Michael's mom said with tears in her eyes. It was hard to tell whether they were tears of joy...or sorrow.

"This Suguho...he should be put in prison for life." My dad growled, clenching his fist as he rubbed my back.

I nodded, not even saying a word as he rubbed my back.

"Sarah...if I could, I'd thank Michael for protecting you through this." He said.

"They protected each other." Michaels mother said. "When everything...happened, Sarah was there for him. We're the ones that should thank you."

I smiled. "You're welcome." I said when I noticed the doors fly open, and two stretchers were being pulled in by four cops, one of whom was Canilive.

"Excuse me." He told his partner and walked towards us.

"Mr. And Mrs. Nielsen, Mr. Sorenson, I'm glad to inform you that Sam and Avery are in good hands." He said.

"Who is Avery?" Rick, my brother asked curiously.

"Avery's Sam's girlfriend." I said.

"I would assume so." Canilive said and turned to Michael's parents. "You have to understand...Michael's a hero, along with the people he fought alongside with."

Mr. Nielsen nodded. "Thank you."

Canilive smiled. "I promise you, we'll do the very best we can to find him." He said. "Something tells me that this is just the beginning."

I nodded. "I'm glad you're not dead."

He chuckled. "Me too. But I'm more glad to see that you came back to the real world."

And with that, he went to find his chief, leaving us to go see our friends.

* * *

"Sam!" Mrs. Nielsen cried out in joy as she gently wrapped her youngest son in her arms, weeping hard.

"Hey...Mom." He said coarsely. "I'd hug ya, but...I've got no strength."

I smiled. "Hey, Sam."

He smiled back. "Hey...thanks."

I looked away when I felt the tears starting to well up. "I'm sorry. I...I couldn't do a think to help."

"Sarah, it's not your fault." Dad said holding my shoulder as I bent down, weeping.

"Your dad's right." Sam said. "Besides, Michael's put there somewhere. We've just got to find him, and we will."

"Well, not until you've gotten some muscle." His dad said.

Sam groaned. "Yeah...I guess I'll be stuck in a wheelchair for a while."

"Well, at least you're back." Rick said.

I smiled. The one thing I did miss was my brother's optimism.

"Well, we'll leave you three alone." Dad said, helping me up and escorting us out.

"Wait, Mr. Sorenson." I heard Canilive yell as he ran towards us. "I know that this may be a lot to ask...but I was wondering if your daughter could join a task force I'm forming."

"A task force? Why?" He asked.

"Well...since she survived Pokémon online, and her boyfriend's missing, I believe that she could be a valuable asset to the team."

"But what if Japan makes another death game?" I asked.

He shook his head. "They won't. Suguho doesn't have control over any of the companies anymore, and we've pretty much got them under our watch."

"That's a relief." Dad said.

Canilive nodded in agreement. "And to be frank, Sarah's not the only one I'm asking to join. The other members of the team are Laochra, David, Nahliel, Firestar, even Kirito and Asuna decided to help."

"What about the others?" I asked.

He sighed. "Well...some didn't wake up. Blaze, Olivia, Amber, and a few others hadn't woken up yet."

Blaze too? I thought. He just got revived.

"Listen, I'll help you, but how will I keep in touch with everyone?"

"You don't need to worry. I'm setting that part up right now." Canilive assured me. "I'm using the friend codes I collected to list out the members of the Guardians of light."

"Guardians of light?" Dad asked.

"That was the name of the guild Michael formed." Canilive said. "I find it fitting."

Dad shrugged and turned to me. "Sarah...are you sure you want to join?"

I nodded. "I'm sure. For Michael."

He smiled. "Okay then." He then looked over to Canilive. "Be sure to help whenever you can."

"I assure you, sir, Sarah will have a place among our company." Canilive said and held out his hand. Dad shook it, and the officer turned to leave.

"I'll inform you when it's all set." He said and walked off.

As I watched him leave, only one belief slipped my mind: Michael's alive...and I'm going to find him.

**Holy cow! Canilive's alive?! After all that time?**

**owner of Canilive, I'm pleased to inform you that you're back in the picture. I just felt that your guy needed a little bit of saving Grace inflicted on him. Hope u don't mind the surprise**


	25. Chapter 24

**Hey, here it is...the final chapter of Pokémon online. It's short, yes...but it's worth it. Enjoy. **

Chapter 24

(Two weeks later)

(Sarah)

"So...how's everything with the task force?" Sam asked, spinning around in his wheelchair.

I giggled. "It's fine. How's rehab so far?"

He shrugged. "It could be worse. I guess the only thing that makes my days is Avery."

"True." I said and sighed. "I'm sorry you can't help."

"Hey, I'll help once I'm back in my feet." He retorted. "Even if it takes longer than I'd hoped."

I was about to say something when my phone beeped. I picked it up and checked the message.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"It's Kirito. He's wanting to talk to me at the meeting place." I said. "He says its urgent."

* * *

"You're sure about this?" I heard Canilive ask as I walked into our little clubhouse his department built for us.

"I'm positive. Agile said that when he dived into the game, he caught a glimpse of a white box in the sky." I heard Kirito tell him.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Canilive looked over to where I stood. "Ah, Sarah...I think it's best of Kirito explained.

I shrugged and looked at the giant screen Kirito was talking to us through. "Okay. Explain away."

"Okay...recently Nintendo released that new Smash brothers online game over here, right?" Kirito asked rhetorically. "Well, here's what my friend Agile found."

As if on cue, a large photo appeared of the game's sky.

"It takes a while to find it, but if I zoom in very carefully, a white cube is seen just floating up there." Kirito explained. "And who happens to be in the box? Michael, Amber, Olivia, and Blaze himself."

"No way...he's been in there?" I asked.

Canilive nodded. "I would suppose so." He said and turned to the screen. "When does SBO come out over in the U.S. and London?"

"Uh...I'd say around a month or two." Kirito replied.

"Okay, we'll get as many new recruits we can." Canilive said. "In the meantime, you and Asuna should start diving in and get some good quality weapons."

"Got it, Canilive." Kirito said and hung up.

"We're going into Smash brothers?" I asked.

"Michael's in there." Canilive said. "If he's in there, so is Suguho."

Can't argue with that. Last week, the Japanese police actually found Suguho's body. He's dead, but he had the Nerve Gear helmet on. Kirito said that he might've transferred his conscious mind into the game, just like Kayaba had after SAO.

"Listen, once we dive into SBO, I'm going to have to have you as the leader." He said. "Michael would want that."

"I know...but what matters the most is finding him." I said. "I will find him...whatever it takes, I will find him."

I just have to wait a couple months.

Hang in there, Michael. I will find you.

**And...finish. here we are. **

**But it's not over. Prepare for Smash bros online. There will be an OC invitation for it, but just hang a sec. I actually I had a great time working on this. Sure, it's shorter than my other stories, and I mightve forgotten to mention an OC at times, but I promise I'll inprove on that. So just sit tight, and prepare for part two. **


End file.
